The Prince of Tennis Play
by Emerald-rei
Summary: The dread begins when the Tennis Boys Club is required to participate in a play; Cinderella. Fuji is blackmailing people and Tezuka is nearly overdosed. Now that Fuji is hurt before the play, how is he going to accomplish his goals?
1. Unexpected

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis does not belong to me…sadly.

Rating: G or K (rating will change based on individual chapters)

Genre: Drama, slight humor

Pairing: Currently none (depends on circumstances)

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1000 words.

My second PoT fanfiction! After the first (one-shot with the title 'Coincidence'), I am encouraged to write more since the readers were so kind. :) This time I hope I manage humor though…Well, depends (Ryoma: Mada mada da ne…) By the way, sorry for the OOC-ness, I am not so familiar with the characters.

The title…well, I haven't thought of the exact title. I might leave it as it is if I can't find a more suitable title. Anyway, please review so that I know if I should continue this story…

**: Ready…Go : **

Chapter 1-Unexpected

"Ano…I don't know if…we can do this…" Kawamura voiced out his hesitancy in a timid voice.

"What!" Momoshiro exclaimed.

"Mada mada da ne…" Ryoma pulled his cap lower to cover his overly large eyes.

"Hssss…" Kaidoh hissed as usual.

"Nya! It will be fun!" Eiji happily jumped around.

"100 percent the other students will enjoy this." Inui flipped through his notebook. "100 percent, buchou would not enjoy this though…," he murmured to himself with a sly smile.

"Calm down…Calm down…" Oishi switched on the mother hen mode again.

"This will be fun like Eiji said." Fuji gave an overly sweet smile, which the others immediately backed off to a safe distance, to Tezuka.

"…" Tezuka gave no response and remained nonchalant. However, if those who knew him long enough, they would notice the vein popped out from his forehead. Just as Inui expected, Tezuka Kunimitsu did not enjoy taking part in _that_. He was not supposed to take part in something like…

"The school principal asked us, the regulars to perform a drama for him since his 50th birthday is coming…," Oishi, as the vice captain calmly announced it to the other regulars a few minutes earlier. He was feeling creepy when he announced it, for Tezuka's aura was very clear to him. The captain was pissed off badly.

That made sense why he was annoyed. After all, he was the captain of Seigaku Tennis Club, not the captain of the drama club! Why should his club members and he perform a drama for the annoying old geezer anyway? "Buchou?" the regulars called out to him when he gave no answer, not even a grunt.

"Tezuka…," Oishi halted. Between the both of them, no words were truly needed. They had been friends for so long, and there was some kind of telepathy when it came to words to both of them. Tezuka rarely spoke out the whole sentence for Oishi to pick out what he meant, and vice versa. In this situation, Oishi was asking Tezuka to reconsider his decision. It was a clear 'no' to the others, but some of them did not want to give up just yet.

"Vote…," Tezuka simply stated and left the meeting room to see Ryuzaki. His head began to ache. The principal's order might not be absolute to them, but it was a respect for an elder. And Tezuka was someone who always respected elders.

Thus, Oishi drew a line across a whiteboard. Then he wrote 'agree' and 'disagree' on left and right side. "Anyone agrees please put up their hands," he said with a small smile. There were three hands, and they belonged to Inui, Eiji and Fuji. Inui murmured about collecting good data, Eiji excitedly telling Fuji how great it would be and Fuji, being Fuji, simply gave a sly smile. "Disagree?" asked Oishi.

There were two. They belonged to Kaidoh and Momoshiro. For once, they both agreed on the same thing. It was funny when how they sent glares at each other when they put up their hands at the same time.

That only made five votes out of seven. "Echizen and Kawamura?" asked Oishi. He knew someone might not put up their hands. So it was true. Those two did not vote and Oishi demanded a reason.

"Depends," Ryoma explained in a bored look. He earned a 'come on, ochibi!' by Eiji but the youngest member ignored it.

"I…I…urm…," Kawamura began hesitantly. He was mumbling when Fuji handed him his tennis racket with a sly smile. In a second, Kawamura exclaimed. "Let's do it, baby!" Everyone looked at Fuji with a cracked smile. The sadist genius was up to no good again.

"That makes 4 agreed and 2 disagreed. One uncertain," reported Oishi when Tezuka finally came back. The stoic captain only nodded.

"Disagree for?" There was no need to ask why the four agreed, Tezuka assumed. They had their own evil plans and the captain wished to stay out of it, especially out of Fuji's plans. More importantly, Tezuka should make up his mind based on why those two disagreed. Their reasons might be good enough to make the others reconsider.

"…there are only boys in our team. Who will take the role as the girl if there is?" Momoshiro declared wisely. Tezuka nodded at his question. True, there were only boys. If there was a girl role, someone had to play cross dressing and…

All eyes trained on Fuji, while the prodigy only smiled innocently. "Yes?"

"Fujiko-chan can take the role as a girl!" Kawamura, with the racket still in his hands exclaimed. Eiji nodded excitedly. The club manager pushed up his glasses and said 'it will be a good data'. The others were simply imagining Fuji in a dress. Eiji was teasing Momoshiro for not thinking about Fuji taking up the girl's role.

"I have no objection then," there went Momoshiro's vote. One more vote on 'agree'.

Tezuka rubbed his forehead. The headache came back to haunt him. Fuji in a dress was certainly dreading. Not to mention if the genius was planning something else…it was equal to _chaos_. "It'll be decided later. Now, what is another reason for disagreeing?"

"Hssss…I hate acting," Kaidoh turned away in an annoyed manner. The others eyed him with unreadable expression. "Backdrop is okay though," he added in an almost audible voice.

'Hmm…understandable for Kaidoh anyway,' Tezuka thought. So, now it was up to the captain to make the final decision. Actually, he had made up his mind earlier when he met with Ryuzaki sensei. She implied something else to help him with the decision. And he came into a conclusion.

"Oishi, and Inui, plan the script. Momoshiro, Kikumaru and Fuji are in charge of the costumes. Kaidoh, Kawamura and Echizen are in charge of backdrop," he announced dryly. Everyone was bewildered. Tezuka actually agreed to perform a play! That was clearly not expectable and they thought they had to convince the stubborn captain. "One week to get everything ready. Then, practice."

**: To be continued :**

I haven't plan of the drama they are going to perform yet. No ideas yet…so anyone is kind and creative enough to spare me some? XD Thanks!


	2. Reactions

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: Hah, I pity Tezuka and co. if they belong to me. ;D

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, slight humor, slight suspense

Pairing: Currently none (depends)

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1000 words.

As the chapter title says, Chapter 2 is about how the regulars react, or their plans. :grins: I am trying to keep each chapter 1000 words, no more no less. It is some kind of self-challenge, yeah. ;P

And I am not so sure what they call each other by. Is it by surnames or their given names? I read several stories saying Fuji called Kawamura Takashi by 'Taka-san', but when I read the comic, Fuji called him 'Kawamura'. If anyone knows, kindly inform me okay? Thank you.

As for this and future chapters, there will be a long 'oooo' to indicate scene changes. There are too many characters to be put together in a scene, since it's unrelated to tennis practices and such. So, please forgive and hope you enjoy. Don't forget to drop a review. :P

**: Ready…Go :**

Chapter 2-Reactions

"One week to get everything ready…Nya! With just the regulars, are we able to get everything done in a week and practice?" Kikumaru Eiji, the one well-known as acrobatic tennis player voiced out his thought to his double partner, Oishi, whom was also the vice-captain of the team.

"Don't worry, Eiji. Actually all of our club's members are supposed to participate, but the regulars are expected to be on stage," Oishi explained like a mother to her whining child. He earned a sweet and energetic smile from the other.

"You need to finish the script fast then. By that only the rest of us can work," Eiji stated, for once, wisely. "Nya! I can't wait for the performance day!" An overly happy Eiji bounced. Oishi only managed to smile at the childlike partner of his before nodding slowly.

Oishi definitely hoped the drama would go well and accordingly. He was worried about a certain captain though.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Ah, Inui. What are you scribbling on your notebook now?" asked the approaching tennis genius by the name of Fuji Syusuke. He happened to pass by their club manager and decided to be nosey.

"Collecting data, Fuji. There is 48 percent the others want us to perform the 'Sleeping Beauty', 50 percent on 'Romeo and Juliet', 30 percent on 'Beauty and the Beast', 70 percent on 'Cinderella', 82 percent on…," and the list went on as Fuji listened patiently to the data analyzer. Finally he came into a conclusion. All of the students expected to see a romance drama by the regulars. A classic romance, that was.

So it also meant one or more of them had to play cross dressing. Not that the blue eyed boy minded, the conclusion had, in fact, pleased him for it did not clash with his plan. Best of all, this was what he had intended. A romance drama was what he desired in the first place.

"I might just have the right idea for you, Inui…," Fuji smirked. Everything went well so far. He intended to keep it that way.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Echizen, I wonder if there is more than a girl role in the drama…," Momoshiro mumbled while eating a burger. Sitting across him, was the youngest among the regulars. Ryoma let out a deep sigh. "Then who will take the role?"

Ryoma gave him his trademark death glare. "Why do you have to worry about all these things?" asked Ryoma impatiently.

"Ah! Eiji perhaps?" Momoshiro continued to mumble alone, totally ignoring Ryoma's question. To which, it annoyed the younger boy instantly.

"Eiji senpai will only tear the dress when he bounces," answered Ryoma bluntly. The image of Eiji wearing a dress and it was torn when he jumped around filled Momoshiro's mind immediately and refused to leave.

"!" The younger boy's bluntness resulted in Momoshiro's misery. He choked on his food and was helplessly trying to drink something. "Wh-what are you talking about, Echizen!" he scolded afterwards, when he finally calmed down. Ryoma did not laugh nor tease him about it. Instead, he just glared at his senior.

"What? It's true," countered Ryoma nonchalantly. Somehow his attitude annoyed Momoshiro and he decided to get his revenge.

"I know. Echizen can be dressed up as a CUTE girl!" Momoshiro stressed on the word 'cute' in order to annoy his junior. And he smirked when he got the immediate response he wanted.

It was Ryoma's turn to choke. "You wish!" he growled while still coughing. His catlike defensive response was followed by Momoshiro's laughter.

'Echizen is fun to tease…,' Momoshiro thought. Ryoma might not be one considered feminine, who was slightly different from Fuji, but the thought to see him in a dress was appealing to the second year regular. However, Ryoma swore to himself, if he was to be dressed in a _girl's_ outfit, he might as well jump off a building or somewhere.

Echizen Ryoma had his pride and he would not go as low as to _dress up_ or to _be dressed up_ as a girl, even if Tezuka forced him to. Although, he doubted if Tezuka would appreciate the boy to wear a dress whereas he knew it would be a creepy sight.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"What is it, Kaidoh?" Tezuka's gaze darted towards the snakelike second year. Kaidoh Kaoru was standing in front of him with his body full of sweats in result of countless laps of running. He was the only one whose appearance could rival Tezuka's when it fell under the category 'scary', apart from Fuji when the genius showed a fragment of his true self.

"How about the tennis practice?" the mamushi asked after a few seconds of silence. Needless to say, Kaidoh was one never bothered himself over something unrelated to tennis practices. He planned to be a better player and he held on to it. Now that the tennis club was going to perform a drama, what about their practice?

His question did not startled Tezuka even a bit. He had planned to balance their tennis practice and the drama practice. "The practice will go on as usual with a little change on the time. We will end it earlier to have a brief meeting regarding the drama. On weekends, we will focus fully on the performances," replied the captain firmly. A nod indicated acknowledgement from the younger member.

"I hope…everything goes well…," the familiar timid voice of Kawamura Takashi said. When the racket was out of his reach, Kawamura was such a timid and gentle boy. It made the others wondered if they should give him a racket to boost his confidence on stage or not, since the action would ruin the whole drama for sure.

If there were an over excited Eiji, a calculating Inui, a twisted Fuji, an uncooperative Kaidoh, a fussy Momoshiro, an uncertain Kawamura, an arrogant Ryoma and a motherly Oishi, things could not be any worse. Tezuka realized that bigger problems were yet to come. He better stock more aspirins for future use.

**: To be continued :**

I have been informed that my idea sounds familiar. I know there are several similar stories here under different categories, but I have went through about hundreds of PoT fanfictions and scanned through the summaries of about 2000 stories. Yet, I didn't find one similar story so far. I will continue to scan through the summaries for it.

However, if anyone thinks I ought to delete this story because s/he read a similar one before, you might kindly inform me. Although, I do think my story will be a totally different one.

_**Replies: **_

**OnEcRaZyGal: **Thanks for the review, I appreciate it. I intend to make Fuji dress in a girl's outfit, obviously. Hahahaha. It seems like we both have something in common. :P Evilness rules lol!

**Reyoko Amazaki: **Oh, I am far from being a genius, dear. But thanks for the support and compliment. I am honored to hear from you again. Aww…don't worry about the play because I definitely won't go for 'Romeo and Juliet' since I am not very familiar with it. Perhaps I will do an original script. Lol, and I don't plan on making Sakuno appear in my story. XD Don't worry about it and once again, thanks for the review.

**KatrinaKaiba:** Thanks for the short, but encouraging review. :bows: I hope you like the second chapter. :)

**Jeanelle:** Your suggestions are great, thanks for the help. :) I am planning to do 'Snow White' or 'Cinderella', but then I think I don't really remember much about the little details throughout the entire story. Guess I will have to crack my brain for a humorous idea (as well as to fit in Fuji's evil plan). Thanks again for the review. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

**Gorilaz: **I have read a fic like this before under other categories, but haven't encountered one under PoT. I wonder if you read one under PoT? Anyway, thanks for informing me. I hope you find it slightly different from those you read. And hope you find it entertaining. :bows:


	3. Recruits

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: If I own Prince of Tennis and its characters, I swear Fuji will be the main character.

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, slight humor, slight suspense

Pairing: Currently none

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, beware of the homosexuality hints, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1000 words. Start off as Fuji-centric because I love him too much lol.

Okay, beware of the evilness? XD Nothing much to say about this chapter actually. Just some evilness of Fuji and Inui going on. I hope I catch their characters…but I do think they are OOC, as well as Ryoma and Momoshiro…Sorry to write so shortly of Tezuka, but he will make more appearances soon.

'Beware of the homosexuality hints' does not involve the PoT pairings…well, you will know later. :sweats:

Do enjoy the silliness. :chuckles: Please review too.

**: Ready…Go :**

Chapter 3-Recruits

Contrary to others' beliefs, Fuji was _not_ one to go as far as to be dressed in a girl's costume. It was evidence enough that he had actually twitched his eyebrows for a mere second when he heard the _intelligent_ exclaim from Kawamura. No one was fast enough to catch the slight change on Fuji's expression though. He was the master of those things, Fuji proudly admitted.

Still, even if he did look feminine and had the small girlish frame, that did not mean he planned it that way. His mere appearances had attracted more attentions than he had expected. Unsurprisingly, he knew his fans were not from the opposite gender only. Fuji, indeed, acknowledged the fact even _males_ were attracted to him.

A guy being good looking was one thing, being _pretty_ was totally different. It was not that Fuji did not appreciate the beauty within himself. It was just freaking scary when half of the females and half of the males populations had interests on him. Of course, he acted indifferently, but he rather dropped the subject if one mentioned. It did not help when he was the prodigy; the one always excelled in whatever he was doing and always achieved his goals.

His fame could rival Tezuka's in all aspects. Well, exclude the fact that males were not as attracted to Fuji as, to the stern captain. His glares sent shivers to everyone who dared to come across his way. Oh, but it was fun to tease the stoic boy when it came into _romantic_ relationships, Fuji sniggered.

On a second thought, teasing Tezuka would become _easier_ if he allowed himself to fill in any available girl's role. Obviously he noticed Tezuka's drained expression when he heard the sadist genius could fill in the said girl's role, even it was only for about…a blink of eyes.

So, even Fuji did not really like the idea of acting as a girl on stage, he was looking for a good teasing at Tezuka. It hurt his pride and he was so sure he would get more unwanted attentions than he already did, but he was willing to throw away his pride for a good reason. Anything involved Tezuka was good enough for Fuji to put himself into a prank.

For once, looking feminine might just be an advantage for the always cheerful genius.

"I see…It is a good idea since our buchou is just that kind of person," their club manager, Inui Sadaharu nodded slowly when Fuji put his intelligent mouth into good use. The smaller boy was in charge of the costumes, he remembered it very well. But hey, Tezuka did not say anything about 'cannot give ideas for the script'. Trust Fuji to interfere with anything that could put others into miseries.

"Just crossed my mind," Fuji gave his best warm smile as if his idea was purely 'chaos-free'. Ironically enough, his ideas were never once 'chaos-free'.

"Ah, I highly doubt it just crossed your mind, Fuji," with that, Inui smirked evilly. The data collector did deserve his fame because he just knew everything from the brand of one's perfume to the latest girlfriend or boyfriend's father's second cousin's best friend's sister's name. Okay, perhaps that was an overly statement.

Fuji smiled in triumph instead of a bewildered expression he was expected to show. Inui was brilliant, he admitted. "Saa," he replied shortly when he revealed his eyes slowly.

If the others saw his gaze, they would either break into a run, or back away to a safe distance. In Inui's case, he just pushed his reflective glasses for an adjustment. The smaller boy gave him credit for his calmness under the famous Fuji's gaze. "I must admit, I like your idea," he said huskily. To him, Fuji's gaze was not the scary type, it was the opposite one. The other was pleased. "The others might as well."

"I can see that," Fuji replied calmly as he closed his eyes once again. "Two might not, though," he added with the 'you-know-who' look.

Needless to say, Inui caught the meaning of his look. "I will make sure they oblige…or shall I say _we_ make sure of that?" he smirked. Fuji laughed as a reply. He meant 'deal'.

"Buchou won't stand a chance in this kind of matter now, would he?" suddenly a familiar voice interrupted both of the regulars. Their attentions were turned to the intruder and they broke into a grin.

It was Fuji who chose to reply the newcomer first. "Echizen, what do you think?"

The younger boy's eyes were revealed under the cap he wore always. Before he could answer, another voice interrupted. "Echizen, where were you just now?" Apparently, it was Momoshiro, who was eating lunch with the first year earlier. When he saw both the seniors, he smiled. "Ah, Fuji senpai, Inui senpai!"

Ryoma ignored Momoshiro's question and answered Fuji's instead. "I guess not."

"There is a bigger possibility when there are more supporters, Echizen," was Inui's reply. All their conversations left Momoshiro with a big question mark on his head.

"Mada mada da ne," was his typical answer. But his smirk was obvious under the shadow of his cap. "Laps are not bad," he added finally, saying that he did not mind being punished later. Bingo! They recruited another 'comrade'.

"Huh?" Momoshiro backed away nervously when the three of them advanced towards him now with that dangerous smile. 'I still want to live...'

Tezuka really, _really_ should regret having Inui to be in charge of the script. Or maybe he should regret his decision to agree in the first place. From a few miles away, the said person suddenly felt a chilly feeling. 'Something's up to someone's sleeve…,' he thought silently while trying to pry away the chill.

The utmost chaos was coming closer as time passed by. Best of all, it was barely the first day of the announcement. Ah, life was never boring when it involved the Seigaku Tennis Club.

**: To be continued :**

_Replies:_

Gorilaz: Hehehe, I think I like your idea of the play. I will make it Cinderella then. They will look cute lol! Thanks for both the idea and review!

KatrinaKaiba: Haha, I guess the same. They will look cute in a dress, but I wonder how to make Ryoma into a dress. XD Thanks for the info, it's certainly useful. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!

Emi Yuuji: Lol, thanks for the review and I am sorry to say the limit is 1000 words only per chapter for now. But in the future, if I get more encouraging reviews, perhaps I will make it longer okay? Sorry. :bows: Hope you enjoy reading this chapter!

OnEcRaZyGaL: Wow, there are quite a number who want Ryoma in a dress! XP I should be happy to make him in a dress. :laughs evilly: Thanks for the review!


	4. Boys

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: You and I know PoT is not mine.

Rating: PG or K+ for some words

Genre: Drama, slight humor, parody

Pairing: Hints of Oishi and Eiji

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, homosexuality hints, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1000 words.

Eiji is a bit over excited here lol. This chapter is pretty pointless, if you ask me. I am just trying to write humor with a slight parody…Anyway, please review. By the way, the new reply system in is really nice. I begin to love it, lol. So, if anyone reviews my story, please log in so that I can reply to you. If it is an anonymous review, I will write your reply in the next chapter. Thank you.

Edited: Thanks to carzla for pointing out my mistakes and thus I made an edit. Sorry for the poor English ne, everyone.

**: Ready…Go :**

Chapter 4-Boys

"Eh? You mean…," the words were left hanging. Silence ensued for a prolonged time. "I see…"

Six young boys were sitting around a table in a sushi restaurant. Needless to say, the restaurant belonged to Kawamura Takashi's father. Thus, it was an ideal place for the others to discuss about the drama performance there.

"So, we will go on with this? Nya! One of us will kiss Fuji then!" exclaimed Kikumaru Eiji, whom gained quite a lot of unfriendly stares from the other guests. He was making too much noise for his own good.

His innocent comment resulted in Ryoma's second choking that day on his favorite drink Ponta, Momoshiro's forehead met with the table for a 'friendly introduction', Oishi shaking his head profusely, and Kawamura, who was serving the guests nearly dropped the plates. Only Inui and Fuji were acting like nothing happened.

"I will be in trouble if one of you Golden Pair plays the role as the prince, Eiji," Fuji interjected calmly. Seeing Eiji's confused expression, Fuji tried to explain in a more straight forward way. "I don't want _someone_ to be jealous," he sniggered. He ended up speaking in riddles again though.

Upon hearing the blunt explanation by the genius, Oishi blushed but shook his head violently in denial. Eiji blinked at his partner, wondering what had happened to him. Obviously, he had missed the blush and the hint behind Fuji's words. All the while Inui had scribbled something furiously on his notebook in an amazing pace.

Ryoma eyed his smallest senior suspiciously. There was something else Fuji had hindered from them. At least, that was how he felt. And the thought of kissing the sadist senior of his…Eww…that was gross to him. Not that he was tall enough to be the prince. 'Okay, snap out of it,' Ryoma mentally scolded himself. Why was he thinking to play the main role?

"Urm…I think no kissing scene will be best," it was then Oishi voiced out his idea. "After all…we are all…boys," he added lamely at the back. Eiji pouted when he said that.

"There is nothing wrong with it nya! We are acting by that time! Professionals do not mind that," Eiji protested quickly. Fuji applauded Eiji for that, in his mind.

It was Momoshiro's turn to step in. "We are not…," whatever words he wanted to say was left unknown because he felt danger at the moment. The strong aura emitted by that _certain_ person was not ignorable. "Nevermind…," he covered his words instantly to avoid troubles he saw coming if he did not shut his mouth up.

Ryoma raised an eyebrow when he saw through Momoshiro's poor attempt to cover up his words. Fuji's aura was really threatening, was it not? "The roles are yet to be decided anyway. Why should we bother about it now?" he asked with a bored expression.

"We should, Echizen. In case you have forgotten about the story, in 'Cinderella' there are five girls! Who will be taking up the roles!" Momoshiro finally voiced out his thought by exclaiming. "I don't wanna be a girl okay…"

"Fuji, Eiji, and Echizen are 100 percent in. The other two girl roles will be changed into boy roles," Inui spoke up finally when something involved the drama being mentioned. The others had nearly forgotten about his existence if he continued talking notes in silent.

"Nya! A girl's role for me? Then Fuji will have company! Nya!" Eiji exclaimed again, this times earning weird glances from the guests. "How would you like it, Oishi?" he asked innocently at the vice-captain, who almost banged his head like Momoshiro did a few minutes ago.

"Wait! Why am I in for a girl's role?" Ryoma growled dangerously. His golden eyes flared up with anger and his fists were shaking violently. He swore to himself he would rather suicide than being dressed up as a girl!

Momoshiro recalled back when he and Ryoma had lunch. They talked about the same topic, and how Ryoma had bluntly declared Eiji would tear his dress when he bounces. This time Momoshiro blushed. "No, no. Kikumaru senpai shouldn't be too hyper otherwise the dress will tear!"

Before anyone could answer, Ryoma snapped. "Momo senpai, leave that aside for now! I am being fitted into a girl's role and that was all you are concerned of! Hey, no one messes with Echizen Ryoma in my life!"

It was obvious Ryoma was so pissed off. The guests began to leave immediately to spare their lives from whatever was going to happen. Kawamura only apologized and bowed to them before his father hung the sign 'close'. It was better that way, his father had said. Kawamura could only look at his arguing teammates warily.

"Nya? Strip show if I tear my dress!" Eiji announced, sounding stupid. Oishi began to hope Eiji was feeling feverish and did not mean whatever he had said. But there was no way he could forget, not when Inui was writing after Eiji. "Ochibi and Fuji, join in!"

"Echizen, you cannot handle the boy roles because…"

"Are you saying I don't look manly enough!"

"Mada mada da ne," Fuji picked up Ryoma's favorite line with a smirk. It was amusing to see Ryoma so furious over something like this. Trust Fuji to be sadist now.

"Echizen, Eiji, calm down for once!" Oishi advised miserably.

"Kikumaru senpai, I am not interested in your strip show and I certainly do not wish to join in!" Ryoma shouted, his fist connected with the table and his Ponta fell.

"I am late," Tezuka's deep voice said as he suddenly entered the shop, ignoring the 'close' sign for some reasons. When he saw the others, his frown became deeper. "I was right when I said I need aspirins," he mumbled. His teammates were shouting at each other. Taking a deep breath, Tezuka's voice echoed. "20 laps! Now!"

The boys obeyed, but at the outside, those shouts never ceased as the group ran for their punishment.

**: To be continued :**


	5. Insanity

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: Who will write fanfictions if they own the anime/manga?

Rating: PG or K+ for some words

Genre: Drama, slight humor

Pairing: Hints of Ryoma and Unknown, little hints on one-sided Fuji and Tezuka

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, homosexuality hints, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1500 words. This chapter started off as Kaidoh-centric. However, I am beginning to focus more on Fuji for the entire story.

Okay, maybe I should warn you about my writing style. It is repetitive in some ways. And in this chapter, I didn't include a note on Fuji and Ryoma pairing because Fuji is more like teasing/mocking Ryoma instead of any shonen-ai related stuffs. For the Ryoma and Unknown pairing, you might as well decide for yourself. XP Nope, no Tezuka and Ryoma pairing either although it might seen like it in some ways.

Oh yeah, this chapter is longer than any previous chapters. Well, let's say I want to repay my readers' kindness for continue reading and since there is a reader that requested for a longer chapter. I make it 1500 words in length from now on. :) Hope you enjoy it, although I do admit I do not deal well with long chapters.

If you ever noticed, the title of each chapter is only of one word. Well, just a little attempt on one-word-titles. XD Okay, enough of my ranting. Please review after reading. Sorry for the boring chapter. :bows:

**: Ready…Go :**

Chapter 5-Insanity

'Lucky I didn't go to the meeting yesterday…,' was the snakelike second year regular's thought. He was thanking God for sparing him from the doom the other regulars had caused last day. Sure enough, if he was present, the laps Tezuka ordered would not be only twenty. It might be doubled, or tripled since Kaidoh was going to fight with Momoshiro, if he was there. Both of the second years were _always_ engaged in arguments, anyway.

By that time he arrived at practice, he saw something was up to no good. Fuji and Eiji were busy chatting, or rather; it was Eiji doing the talking most of the time excitedly while Fuji only added a few points somewhere. Inui and Oishi were discussing about something related to the drama, or rather; it was Oishi doing the part all the time while Inui jotting down everything. Momoshiro and Ryoma were shouting at each other, or rather; it was Ryoma yelling about being a girl while Momoshiro reluctantly putting up a protest all the while Kawamura was trying to stop them hesitantly.

It was strange that Fuji did not smirk evilly at Momoshiro's despair, unlike how he usually enjoyed others' miseries. It was even weirder when Oishi acted like nothing happened and was not fussy over Ryoma's behavior, unlike how he always had been the 'mother hen' of their team. In fact, the entire atmosphere that day was _alien_. It gave a sense of unfamiliarity, no matter how they looked ordinary.

Kaidoh hissed to himself. He disliked surprises and unfamiliarity of all things. Weirdest of all, their captain was nowhere to be seen, which it was so unlikely to be in the first place. What had happened to them actually? What caused the changes?

"You know there is no point in regretting over things like this, Tezuka. You already accepted the quest. So be it," from nowhere, Ryuzaki's voice came out. From the way she spoke, it seemed like their captain was having a headache. The next thing he knew, they were all running laps around the court. He did not do anything, Kaidoh swore. But Tezuka was Tezuka, and no one dared to interfere with him regarding the punishments. Besides, running laps was one of his trainings as well.

All of a sudden, every members in the team were silent, especially the regulars. Even Ryoma had to keep his mouth sealed no matter how annoyed he was at the moment. So, the practice went accordingly like any normal day, except for the fact that the regulars were acting a bit differently during their matches. Kaidoh was surprised to find he was becoming all observant that particular day. But who would not, when they were that obvious?

After dismissing the juniors, Tezuka asked the regulars to stay for a brief meeting regarding the play. They had, of course, obeyed his order without much word. When the juniors left the court, only Tezuka began the meeting. With a deep voice, he announced, "Inui told me the plans for the script. Since I entrusted the matter into Inui's and Oishi's hands, I wish not to look into it further. However, I still have the authorities to make _certain_ rules. Romance dramas are fine, but _no _kissing scenes. As for the roles, an audition will be held."

Tezuka was never a man with words, but that day he made an exception; a _rare_ exception. If he left the matter any longer, his teammates might not be only yelling at each other, a war would occur even. And the announcement was only made yesterday! He silently and seriously wondered how many aspirins he should stock.

Little did Tezuka know of Fuji's plan. The expressionless captain was not stupid, nor slow. He saw the mischievous glint in Fuji's sapphire eyes when the prodigy revealed them. So, he had to put it to a stop. He had to draw a border so the others would not go too far. Things could not afford to be lost control. Tezuka was a perfectionist when it involved his concern.

Not that his rules could stop Fuji anyway. That sly genius lived to his fame well, far too well for his own good. If Tezuka set up new rules, he would somehow find some ways to bend them, or use some other ways to overcome those without being caught. Yes, Fuji was really clever with that. But the stoic captain had no choice. At least his new rules would bind the others, if not all.

From a certain distance, Fuji and Inui exchanged glances with that infamous smirk. Ryoma, on the other hand, seemed relieved. He intended to fail in the audition. He did not care what else role he would get, as long as it was a male role, nothing else mattered; as long as it could save his dignity from Fuji's and Inui's insanity.

'Ah, I still will get what I want, Tezuka buchou,' Fuji smiled to himself. Nothing could mess with his perfect plans. A little audition was not a problem to Fuji at all. All he needed was a bit of time for him to kill a small amount of his brain cells to get everything in order.

The other regulars seemed uninterested, or rather, they pretended to be so. Inside, they were nervous. Inui predicted that everything would go accordingly and they would get the roles suited their attitudes best. To Ryoma's dismay, Inui said there was 100 percent he would get a girl's role no matter what.

"You are too small to be a fitted into _any_ male role in Cinderella," was the blunt not-too-convincing reason coming from their manager.

"Maa, maybe Echizen wants to be the princess for _someone_," here came the feminine voice of their third year prodigy with a so-called innocent smile. Fuji took a glance at the ones he had mentioned and noticed a blush was obvious on one of their faces. He nodded at Inui, who immediately recorded the new good data provided by Fuji, his currently partner-in-crime.

"To hell with it!" was Ryoma's expected reply. This was followed by Inui's '99.9 percent Echizen will say that', to which it earned him a death glare and a few nods.

"Watch your tongue, Ochibi! Nya, it's not good for a chibi to curse," obviously, Eiji had no idea Ryoma's anger was somehow also caused by him the day earlier.

The group was going to repeat the same history as yesterday. Apparently, they did not remember there was their strict captain trying to block out their noises and it was testing his limited patience. Kaidoh was hissing louder than usual when he heard the shouts from their youngest regular. His eyes traveled towards their captain and they looked like they were begging for a solution to stop this stupidity.

"Silent!" suddenly, a so-famous voice echoed and silence fell. Kaidoh and the timid Kawamura were grateful for that for it saved their sanity. "One more word and 30 laps around the courts!" Tezuka warned. For a second when no one ever noticed, his hand gave a little massage on his forehead. That moment, he was kind enough to let them go without being punished.

Of course, only Fuji noticed this and grinned knowingly. "Ne Tezuka-buchou," he began with his sweet poisonous voice. "Do you need an aspirin?" It nearly caught Tezuka when he was going to say 'hn', which it meant 'yes', but he was quick to regain his composure.

"Fuji, 30 laps around the courts now," Tezuka ordered in his deep voice while his eyes narrowed. Everyone else was exchanging curious glances, but none wanted to suffer the same fate Fuji did by only a common question. Fuji rose from his seat and started off his laps like it was reward and nothing like a punishment. "If I were to witness yet another argument like this, the whole show is cancelled for good," Tezuka made his point clear.

Finally, the meeting ended quite peacefully, even though Fuji, who finished his laps and returned, was at presence. Ryoma seemed to calm down when Tezuka demanded Inui to stop his ridiculous calculation regarding the roles and the others to stop provoking the poor first year.

"Nya, there is no fun when this is all serious," Eiji complained to his best friend, Fuji, in an almost audible voice. He was afraid of Tezuka and his punishment to speak out aloud.

Another smile was plastered on Fuji's face. "Ah, no fun? This is where the fun begins, Eiji," was the reply in the same level of voice Eiji had used. Eiji, who was one of those few that understood Fuji and his master mind on 'fun' plans, managed to back away for safety.

'Time to get back at Echizen for turning his back against us,' the prodigy smirked at his own thought. 'There is no one can back out from Fuji Syusuke's plans. Not especially when it involves a certain _adorable_ junior and a certain _charming_ buchou.'

**: To be continued :**


	6. Blackmails

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: If I am Konomi sensei, then I own them.

Rating: PG or K+ for language

Genre: Drama, humor, slight parody

Pairing: Hints of one-sided Tezuka and Ryoma

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, homosexuality hints, naughty ideas, 1500 words. This time the chapter is Inui-centric.

Have a taste of the craziness of Fuji and Inui in this chapter lol! I pity Ryoma. XD I did enjoy very much to write this one, but I am not sure if anyone dislikes my sense of humor. So, please forgive me if this is not your taste.

Actually regarding the shonen-ai hints, there is nothing much…Well, just a slight implication of the Pillar pairing. It's a favor for my reader since she said she likes the Pillar pairing. X3

Special thanks to my beta reader, Carzla for volunteering to help with my chapters! No more corrupted language for my dear readers, thank goodness. :hugs:

Do review, please. Thank you.

**: Ready…Go :**

Chapter 6 – Blackmails

To Tezuka's relief, ever since he made the announcement and set up the rules, everything went smoothly. No more stupid pranks, teasing, arguments, provocations and such. Practices went well and the meetings were smooth too. Tezuka was thanking the Gods for the peaceful days. But who would know how long the peaceful days could possibly last.

Nonetheless, he was more than grateful that Fuji had managed not to do anything out of the ordinary for the past few days. What Tezuka did not know was that Fuji was currently on a secretive mission, which involved some of the regulars, with his trusted partner-in-crime named Inui, of course.

A youth with reflective spectacles opened his notebook, which contained details on people he found interesting. Inui flipped through his notebook and immediately found the page he was searching for. Adjusting his glasses, his keen eyes proceed to read his own neat handwriting.

_**Target: Echizen Ryoma**_

_**Mission: 'Pursue' him to cooperate **_

_**Dispatchers: Fuji and Inui**_

_**Blackmail materials: Inui's juices, personal data and some photos**_

_**Report: Success**_

_**Reporter: Fuji Syusuke**_

Inui's mouth twitched upwards after he finished reading the first mission. He remembered the day after Tezuka's announcement regarding an audition, Fuji had come to the data specialist and asked him for a little help, to which Inui was more than happy to oblige. Together, they went to find the freshman and found him drinking a can of Ponta. They successfully cornered him as no one was around.

At first, Ryoma had growled in annoyance. "Fuji-senpai, Inui-senpai, if you are going to pursue me to take the role as a girl, then give up," he glared at both his seniors. He knew both of them well enough to sense the mischievous aura around them.

"Echizen, to say 'pursue' is kind of an understatement, don't you think so, Inui?" Fuji flashed his poisonous smile again. It was answered by a nod from his companion. All the time, Inui had a pencil ready to jot down any good data he could gain from Ryoma.

"So you're saying that you're going to _force_ me then," the younger boy concluded harshly. He was able to break free from being cornered by the other two since they meant no real harm in the first place. After he finished drinking, he dumped the empty tin into a nearby trash bin vehemently.

Fuji chose that time to reveal his beautiful gem-like eyes. "The right word should be 'blackmail', Echizen," he corrected with a finger waving in front of the annoyed freshman. It was then that Inui opened his notebook and began reading his personal data, before the poor victim could even mutter a word.

"At the age of two, you seemed to develop an interest in tennis balls and could be seen biting on them when none of your parents noticed," Inui read in his monotonous voice.

Fuji chuckled when he heard that, his eyes twinkling in delight. "Biting your tennis balls? I didn't know you used such a way to strengthen your teeth," he commented with a tease. Oh, how he enjoyed mocking Ryoma.

The poor boy only growled in embarrassment. 'I will not fall so easily,' he thought.

Undisturbed by Fuji's comment, Inui continued reading. "When you were three, you started to bite the tennis racket instead."

Fuji laughed in amusement. Really, Ryoma was such an interesting kid when he was young. Not that he was saying the older Ryoma was dull. "Brush your teeth with a racket, hmm? I must tell Tezuka to try that sometimes. Rackets might prove to be more useful than toothbrushes, it seems." At the end of it, Fuji giggled.

Ryoma's frown deepened and his face was red with embarrassment. 'No no no, there's _no_ way this will reach Buchou's ears…' he thought in fear. Things were getting too far. He had to protest. Otherwise, the two third year regulars would think he had given in.

"At the - " Before Inui could read the next piece of data, Ryoma interrupted.

"Enough! You don't have any evidence on what I did in the past!" The younger boy's eyes were filled with anger.

Fuji understood that he was trying to escape the torture of hearing his secrets being revealed. Much to the sadist's entertainment. He then closed his eyes and opened his bag to reveal some photos inside. "Ah, Echizen seemed desperate to wear a cap that he wore an underwear on his head instead when there was none," the genius chuckled, pulling out a photo of four-year-old Ryoma scowling, with a pink garment on his head.

Ryoma's eyes widened when he saw the cursed picture. His perverted father had taken it. He had pulled a prank on his innocent son back then, forcing the garment on his head and taking a picture out of fun. He was really innocent! "T-that…"

Honestly, he was at loss for words. His face was as red as a tomato right now. This was really agonizing! 'Stupid perverted old man! Curse him and his dirty thoughts!'

Several miles away, the said person sneezed a few times. "Ah! My precious magazine!" he exclaimed when he accidentally spilt tea on his porn magazine when he sneezed.

Karupin was looking at him, startled at the sudden exclamation and then he mewed softly as if taunting the retired professional tennis player. 'Serves you right…' was all in the cat's mind.

If only he could say it out aloud…

"Not enough of caps? Apparently Echizen liked to use bras as cat ears," Fuji waved a picture in front of a gapping Ryoma.

It displayed a sleeping five years old Ryoma with a black laced bra on top of his head. Ryoma had _no idea_ when his brainless old man took that picture! He recalled nothing as to use that _thing_ as cat ears!

"It does make a very cute black neko. Aww, no wonder you always have a thing for cats, ne?" Fuji continued to provoke the poor boy.

Even Inui did not manage to get those pictures. 'How did Fuji get them?' He raised an eyebrow and quickly scribbled something into his notebook. That day, he had learned two things: Ryoma's secrets and Fuji's ability of being a prodigy in all aspects, including his own field. He was thinking of asking for copies of those pictures from Fuji… if the other allowed.

Judging from Ryoma's reactions, Inui knew he was going to give in soon. "I seriously think you need to drink more of my juices if your past interests were so… _unhealthy_," the manager nodded, his fingers massaging his jaw as if deep in thought. "Tezuka wouldn't like-"

Again, before Inui could finish his sentence, Ryoma burst out, "Fine! Fine! I've had enough of all this!" There was no choice at all to win over this madness. The poor victim did not even want to know how on _earth_ his two seniors gained the photos and secrets. It was embarrassing enough and he had no desire to learn how much they knew of them. The future Pillar of Seigaku could not be seen like this! And why did they have to drag Tezuka's name into this blackmailing stuff anyway! "But under one condition, give me back those pictures!"

'Told ya… No one can escape my plans,' Fuji thought in triumph when Ryoma finally gave in. "Deal. Be a good boy and act well in the performance, that's all we want," he said with a sly smile. 'Be a good _girl_ in the drama and keep silent about the blackmails,' his mind added sadistically.

Somehow, miraculously, Ryoma seemed to know of Fuji's thought and the message behind his famous smile as he nodded hesitantly in defeat. On second thoughts, acting as a girl might be better than the exposing of his dark secrets. At least, he could convince himself that he was acting. It was all nothing but an act. Surely he could do that, right? Anything was better than to die from embarrassment…

Glaring, Ryoma snatched the pictures away from Fuji's hand. "I have copies though," was all he heard before his head hit the wall desperately. 'Oh Gods, I wish I'll awake from this nightmare!'

So, that was how the mission became a success. Inui smiled at the thought. It was fun gathering new data when Fuji was around. The prodigy had proven to be very helpful as an assistant to Inui, and vice versa. It might still be a little risky to be around him since Fuji was unpredictable most of the time and he could even turn against their manager if necessary. But for the moment, Inui knew he was 95 percent out of harm. Fuji still needed his assistance, after all.

For the next target, it was his turn to seek Fuji's aid. The target was hardheaded, probably more stubborn than the arrogant Echizen they dealt with in the last mission. 'With Fuji's help, there's a 83 percent chance of success,' Inui thought as he closed his notebook in satisfaction.

**: To be continued :**


	7. Poison

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: I only want to own Fuji and Tezuka if possible. But too bad, I can't and won't.

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, humor

Pairing: Hints of Inui and Kaidoh

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, homosexuality hints, 1500 words, and pointless chapter.

Hmm… the continuation of Inui and Fuji's insanity plans. XD Kaidoh and Inui are hard to write, especially when it is related to humor (that is why I was stuck and late to update). :sweats: So, please forgive me if you find this chapter boring.

I must thank Carzla for the ideas on Kaidoh's part and for beta reading. Sorry to disappoint you if it's not well written. :(

Here I apologize if I didn't manage to reply some reviews. Thank you for the support though! Please review after reading.

**: Ready…Go :**

Chapter 7 – Poison

During practice, Inui was summoned by Ryuuzaki-sensei to have a discussion regarding the training schedule he had planned. He was their manager, after all. During his absence, a strong gust of wind caused his personal notebook to fall onto the ground and the pages to flip wildly. Fuji was standing only a few steps away and thus he went to pick it up, only to have something catching his attention. His trained eyes scanned through the opened notebook swiftly.

_**Target: Kaidoh Kaoru **_

_**Mission: Convince him to join the acting **_

**_Dispatcher: Inui_**

_**Blackmail Material: Inui Juice**_

_**Report: Success**_

_**Reporter: Inui Sadaharu**_

'Ah, so it's another success? An expected result,' the genius snickered quietly. The report reminded him vividly of their first target – Ryoma. It was fun mocking their team's baby. For the entire day, Ryoma had avoided Fuji and Inui at any cost. Sure, he was furious, but he wouldn't be able to hold the grudge for long. 'He will, but he can't do anything,' Fuji grinned slyly.

He remembered the data specialist had come to seek for Fuji's assistance earlier before he set out to hunt his prey, which happened to be their junior; Kaidoh Kaoru. Inui had stated Kaidoh might not help Fuji with his plan, or worse, he might ruin it without knowing it. Although Fuji knew the reason Inui gave was to cover his true motives, the other found no hesitancy in agreeing.

"This won't do," was his answer and he had spent an hour killing his brain cells to find a solution.

Inui immediately set off after listening to his words and with an overly joyful wave; Fuji wished him good luck. Knowing his junior, who was a year younger than him, Inui went to the place Kaidoh would be at. If anything, no one could miss Kaidoh's persistency in training and building his muscles and stamina. And there he was, running laps with that scary look that would send everyone away. Unfortunately, that was not working for Inui.

"Kaidoh, your speed is improving by 17 percent," the bespectacled boy stated in a matter of fact tone. It was his way of approaching the other, who only nodded in reply. Seigaku Boys' Tennis Club was full of strange people. It was either they were plain weirdoes, or they were just too unique in their own ways.

The younger made no comment but when he passed Inui, he nodded. Finally after a few more laps, the training was done. Inui handed a bottle to the sweating Kaidoh who was taking up the seat beside his senior. "Here," he said while passing the labeled bottle to Kaidoh.

The snakelike regular raised one eyebrow in doubt. "What is it?" he asked, suddenly feeling suspicious of Inui. After all, his juices were going to kill the club members one day if they drank it continuously.

Smirking evilly, Inui replied, "Inui's Love Potion Remix."

Immediately, Kaidoh fell off the bench. He stood up later with a blush across his cheeks. Inui sounded like Fuji when he switched to his sadistic mode. Failing miserably at what he was trying to say, Kaidoh only hissed in annoyance and embarrassment.

"I was just kidding," the data analyzer pushed up his glasses with a serious expression a while after.

Upon hearing that, Kaidoh held the bottle in relief. He was dying to drink some water so he decided to drink from it. However, before he had the chance to take a sip, Inui's voice stopped him. "Actually, it's the Penal Tea."

That was the second time that day Kaidoh Kaoru had fallen off from a bench. He wondered why Inui would inform him about it, since he knew very well the junior would not drink it after he knew the contents. Inui had tricked the freshmen into drinking his juices, so why would he not do the same to Kaidoh? It was the perfect chance for him to do so.

"Only those who give cooperation are spared from this," Inui's voice snapped him out of reverie. "Next time you are not spared though, Kaidoh."

"What do you mean by 'next time', senpai?" asked Kaidoh, turning away from the other in mind annoyance. Inui had threatened him with his deadly juices?

"Whoever backs out from the performance is going to drink my juices," he replied, picking up the dropped bottle. "Just like practice."

This time Kaidoh had to protest. "I am not backing off! I am in charge of the backdrop!" Kaidoh swore he would rather participate in 'Fear Factor' than to drink the infamous Inui Juices.

"Backdrop doesn't count… You have to act, like requested. _All _regulars have to be on stage."

"No way! This is different!" Kaidoh actually shouted at Inui, apart from Momoshiro, his sworn enemy.

"I'm one of the directors, so I have the right to make that rule," replied Inui calmly. Suddenly, he smirked. "Otherwise you want _someone_ to _poison_ your drinks for months or you want to experience what Echizen went through."

What Inui said about Ryoma's experience sent shivers to Kaidoh. He had no desire to know that, although he did feel pity towards Ryoma. Other than that, he could no nothing else since now he was going to face the same fate if he refused! "As long as it's a minor role that's Momoshiro-free…"

Inui raised an eyebrow. He had thought Kaidoh would fight harder than Ryoma. He never thought Kaidoh would give in so easily. What a surprise. Did his juices scare others that much? Well, apart from Fuji, everyone else dreaded it, so it must be a 'yes'. However, based on Kaidoh's response, data was once again proven to be useless in this kind of situation. "We'll see to that." In his mind, Inui made a mental note to collect more data on Kaidoh.

An hour passed after his encounter with Inui when, suddenly, Kaidoh's screams echoed throughout the school. "Senpai! You cheater!" It was followed by a thud merely seconds after. His classmates were stunned, but some were staring at his lunch box suspiciously. So his lunch was really 'poisoned' after all.

"Ah, I forget to warn him about his lunch," the data specialist murmured in his own class, totally oblivious of Kaidoh's screams a few seconds before. "Fuji decided to take a precaution step."

From that day onwards, Inui received plenty of unfriendly glares from the second year. Fuji only grinned when he saw those puzzled looks from Inui whenever he was within Kaidoh's sight. Not that the bespectacled boy complained, for he seemed to have more topics to be jotted down as 'good data'.

"Inui, actually there is no need for you to ask for my advice," the genius murmured to himself. "Since Kaidoh _always_ listens to you, whereas he seldom takes our word for granted. Apart from Tezuka, I don't think he'll listen to anyone else," Fuji smiled when he flipped through Inui's notebook. 'There is always something that can't be predicted by just data…'

Satisfied, Fuji put the notebook back to its respectively place. "Perhaps you are the one who fails to see the obvious, Inui."

"Hoi! Fuji! Let's play a match with me as a warm up!" Eiji waved wildly to catch his best friend's attention. Smiling happily, Fuji took his racket and ran towards the acrobatic regular. "Nya. Why were you reading just now?" asked a curious Eiji.

'Don't you know curiosity kills the _cat_?' Fuji thought while showing a smirk to the other. "Love letter from Momoshiro to Oishi," he replied casually, causing Eiji to drop his racket in shock. Apart from his, there were also some several rackets were dropped.

"W-What!" Everyone within hearing range was shocked. Every pair of widened eyes landed on Momoshiro since Oishi was not present at the moment. Ryoma only lowered his cap to cover his smirk.

"How can you, Momo!" exclaimed Eiji desperately. A pair of watery blue eyes accompanied his exclamation. "You didn't tell us!"

"Fuji-senpai! Please don't joke like that!" Momoshiro wailed. His face was red with embarrassment. "I am not interested in Oishi-senpai, Eiji-senpai!" he explained in a panicked tone. "He is more of a wonderful mommy to me!"

Suddenly Fuji burst and laughed. All the tension was gone when they heard his melodious laughter. It sounded so innocent, like an infant's. But of course, only a few knew his innocence would never rival his evilness. Soon after, the others joined in as well, laughing at Momoshiro's exclamations and Eiji's childishness. The said duo was laughing nonetheless.

"Maa… Sorry about scaring you guys with such as joke," Fuji smiled innocently after they had calmed down. "But Momoshiro, I have no idea you look upon Oishi as a _mommy_." Needless to say, he began to laugh again.

"Whose mommy?" a familiar voice asked, startling the others. When they saw Oishi, everyone turned to look at a flushed Momoshiro and all restraint cracked as everyone started to laugh hysterically.

Thus Oishi had officially become Seigaku's, or rather, Momoshiro's _wonderful_ mother.

**: To be continued :**


	8. Interlude: Preparations

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: If you think I look like Konomi-sensei, then I own Tenipuri.

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, slight suspense, slight humor

Pairing: None in this chapter

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, 1000 words. Yes, this one is short of 500 words. Well, which is why it becomes 'interlude' instead of 'chapter'.

Okay, the evil blackmailing mission of Inui and Fuji is over. I think you all are looking forward to the actual play more than some pointless jokes ne? That's why I cut my story plot.

Thanks for those who reviewed and added this story into your favorites. And I apologize if I didn't reply to any of the reviews for the previous chapter.

Credits are given to Carzla for beta-reading my story. :) Do review after reading!

**: Ready…Go :**

Interlude – Preparations

Apparently the secretive plan was a success when both Inui and Fuji succeed in _forcing_ the poor Ryoma and Kaidoh to agree with their terms. Privately, Fuji had given some thought about blackmailing the vice-captain and captain of their team as well. But, later he had to cancel his plans and shrug off the appealing thought. It was too much of a risk even if the genius used other methods to approach the targets.

"Is everything done?" asked Tezuka dryly on one fine morning after practice. As promised, it had been a week since the announcement and they were going to start the preparations. Beforehand, Inui and Oishi had instructed the three boys – Ryoma, Kawamura and Kaidoh, who were in charge of the backdrops, to get everything ready. Among all tasks, backdrops were the easiest and could be finished faster.

Surprisingly, the trio had managed to get the necessary materials for the backdrops without getting into a heated argument. Kaidoh had been unwilling when they were asked to shop for the items, but he complied afterwards when Inui's spectacles sparkled dangerously. Ryoma had obeyed and followed the eldest of all three, Kawamura, who was entrusted with the long list of items.

The shopping went smoothly, although there was once Kaidoh's usual grunt made an owner freaked out and immediately lowered the prices. "Ehh… Kaidoh-senpai always gets discounts. What an advantage," Ryoma commented with his famous mocking smirk. His comment was replied by Kaidoh's annoyed hiss. Due to a senior's presence, the snakelike junior only glared at the arrogant freshman.

Although they had yet to set up the backdrops, they had done their share and would only need to focus on practices in the future. The setting was handed to the juniors and freshmen. 'Finally…' was a shared thought among the trio.

As for the script, both Inui and Oishi had done editing the parts and a certain inappropriate scene. Their burdens were the heaviest because they were still the directors, which meant they had to control a whole bunch of troublesome actors when they had to act as well. Oishi had questioned Tezuka why he did not take up such important role when he was the most suitable person for it. The other only explained he might be a great leader for a tennis team, but that did not mean he was a good director naturally.

Fuji, Eiji and the second-year Momoshiro were in charge of costumes. Their jobs were the hardest, judging by the situation the other regulars were in. Sure, they knew which classic story they had chosen to perform, but the roles were still undecided. Seeing all of them were of different sizes, they could not just simply find clothes. Therefore, they decided to continue their given task only after the roles were decided.

Eiji, however, did not tell the others that the sadistic best friend of his had _nearly_ dragged him to a lingerie shop. Fuji had brilliantly suggested a C cup pink-laced bra with teddy bears for Ryoma and said the younger prodigy would need one to make him more ladylike on stage. Seriously, the acrobatic player was wondering why prodigies had _unusual_ tastes. They only made themselves all the scarier.

"All right then. Oishi. Inui," Tezuka listened to the reports and finally decided to let the duo be fully in charge. Upon hearing their names, the spiky haired boy and the vice-captain stood up with bundles of paper in their hands. It appeared to be the edited scripts as they handed everyone a copy.

"I've yet to assign the roles," Inui was the first to speak. "Since Tezuka required us to have an audition first, Oishi decided to fill in the roles randomly. Complain and you'll be the first person to taste my newly invented Inui juice," the bespectacled boy threatened as he showed them a jug of deadly liquid with a dangerous smirk.

Everyone else was backing away from the deadly odor of the juice, apart from the expressionless Tezuka and of course, Fuji. The others did not even bother to ask Inui for his new creation's name. When they saw the temporary roles they were assigned to for the audition, however, several eyebrows were raised. But the rebellious thoughts were banished instantly when Inui threatened them with his juice.

"Each of you has a different script. I highlighted the necessary dialogues for everyone, so you only have to memorize those during the audition. It's not much," Inui's voice stated monotonously. The others merely nodded. Apparently, they could not get their minds off the dangerous cup of juice he was still holding in his hand.

Fuji's smile widened for a short moment when his sapphire eyes fell on the randomly selected names for each role. 'I should bring my camera on that day,' he thought silently. "When is the audition?" the smiling boy asked.

"Next Saturday afternoon in the school hall, if it's okay with everyone," Oishi was the one who answered the question. Everyone looked doubtful for a while before they nodded. Tezuka knew that next Saturday, he would surely have to bring his aspirins.

The meeting went proceeded without any disruption from anyone, to which their team captain was more than grateful for. Although there was an occasional whine or two, but at least everyone had been controlling their tempers very well and had refrained from starting a war of words. Tezuka was thankful that Inui's juices were not merely destructive; they held their purpose of maintaining peace too.

So far, only three people looked forward to the next weekend. The others? They felt like they were waiting for their executions after they saw their own roles.

Soon, the meeting had come to an end and all of them went back home. On his way home, Fuji was humming his favorite song cheerfully. "Time for some entertainment," he murmured to himself.

On the other hand, the team's trusted captain could only silently wish that hell would not break loose come Saturday.

**: To be continued :**


	9. Audition

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: It's mean to remind me every single time I don't own Tenipuri. :sobs:

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, humor, slight suspense

Pairing: None in this chapter

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, 1500 words. Don't really have anything to warn you… Or should I warn you of the madness in this chapter? Lol.

All right, the audition is here now. Those who had the correct guesses of roles, I congratulate you. :D But do remember the roles are selected _randomly_ and the scripts are _momentary._ If you don't get my hint, it's okay. Enjoy the suspense till then. :P

Thanks for the ideas from reviewers and please don't be disappointed if I didn't use those. I might use them later or in other Tenipuri stories if I write. I apologize for not replying to some of the past reviews.

Special thanks to dear Carzla for beta-ing. Please drop a review, kind readers. I would be glad to hear from you all.

**: Ready…Go :**

Chapter 8 – Audition

Finally, the fateful day the Seigaku boys had been dreading arrived. One by one, the regulars reached their school hall, where they had gained the principle's permission for the audition. As expected, Ryoma was the last to arrive with the same lame reason of oversleeping. Luckily for him, Tezuka was not one of the directors; otherwise he might end up running laps. Yet, to have Inui as the director was more unfortunate for the freshman. He was on the edge of forcing his newly invented juice into Ryoma's throat had Oishi not been there to stop him.

On a second thought, having Tezuka as the director might be a better choice than having a mad juice maker as one.

"Inui, cut this nonsense," Tezuka interrupted. Those who knew him well enough could detect the slight annoyance in his deep commanding voice. The strict youth did not wish for any more arguments. 'Let me have some peace,' he silently prayed, or rather, _begged_ for Kami-sama's mercy.

Thus, under Tezuka's famous death glare, the directors quickly instructed the others to get ready. Oishi made a mental note to beware of Tezuka that day. He seemed to be in a _bad_ mood that morning. If the captain actually snapped at them… he dared not think of the consequences.

"Okay, when your name is called, go to the middle and start acting," Inui's voice snapped the concerned vice-captain out of his reverie. Oishi heaved a deep sigh before settling on one of the chairs in the huge hall with a pencil and a small blue notebook in his hand. Inui sat down beside him after a while, with the same stationeries to note down the others' short performances.

Meanwhile, the other seven boys were sitting at a corner on the stage. They were all giving each other anxious glances, excluding the ever smiling Fuji, the usually calm Tezuka, and the grumpy Ryoma. Even the Eiji, who was generally hyper, was feeling nervous under Inui's calculating stare. Really, their data analyzer could be so creepy at times.

"First, Taka-san," Inui suddenly announced, his glasses glittered. Kawamura, who was trembling as he always had whenever he was not holding his source of energy, stood up feebly. Walking towards the middle stage, he stumbled and nearly fell if Fuji was not fast enough to grab hold of the powerhouse.

"Th-thanks, Fuji," was Kawamura's timid reply. He flashed a grateful smile at the shorter regular. A warm smile answered him as Fuji handed a racket that had appeared from nowhere to the future chef.

"Here, Taka-san."

When Kawamura took his racket, the 'burning mode' was switched on as he laughed loudly. "BURNING! Come on, you four-eyed freak that mixes foul liquids! Watch how my act defeats everyone else's!" He declared, pointing the racket at Inui, whose eyebrows twitched in response. Momoshiro, and Eiji were trying to refrain their laughs as soon as the words came out.

"Four-eyed freak that mixes foul liquids?" Inui muttered darkly. A vein popped out from his forehead. 'He called my juice a 'foul liquid'!' Before he could stand up to protest, Oishi's hand pulled him back down.

"Audition," was the calm and collected explanation. Oishi was asking him to look over that and focus on their current jobs instead. When had the vice-captain emulated Tezuka's behavior to speak in one-word sentences? Inui hesitated for a moment before finally regaining his composure. "Taka-san, you may start now. And no rackets are allowed on stage. Fuji, you can't give him that."

Everyone else sighed. Fuji only cocked his head aside as if thinking deeply and suddenly a light bulb appeared comically above his head. "This will do the trick." Quickly, he switched the racket with a short rod. "You can hide this under your sleeve," he announced, clasping his hands in delight.

"BURNING! Don't tell me you want to go to the ball, you filthy girl!" Kawamura instantly said, starting the audition without any of the directors' order. Inui and Oishi could only let Kawamura continue. Everyone else raised an eyebrow. Kawamura being the evil stepsister… no, _stepbrother_ might be a bit too much, especially when he was in his violent burning mode.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hoi! You ungrateful child! Sweep the floor!" Eiji exclaimed, trying to look furious by putting up an angered face. Yet, it was all in vain when his face showed a pout instead. Yes, a big pout that was. The others only giggled at his ridiculous but adorable actions.

"He sounds too cheerful for an evil stepmother." Once in a while, Tezuka would give some comments.

"Eiji, you should be more serious," Oishi commented, although he was close to smiling at his partner.

"Nya! Oishi, I can't help it!" Eiji protested.

"Oishi does suit the role of being a _mother_ more, ne Momo?" asked Fuji with a sly smile. Momoshiro, who recalled the incident of declaring Oishi as a wonderful mother to him, flushed bright red on the spot. The others merely laughed.

"But Oishi-senpai is too soft to be the Cinderella's heartless stepmother." Even Ryoma joined in the teasing.

Hearing the discussion among the others, Oishi silently wished he were as stern as Tezuka. 'I will order them laps if there's no choice…'

"Hn." Everyone turned to look at Tezuka in bewilderment. Did he agree because it was an undeniable fact or was he in for a tease as well? But judging by his attitude, it was most likely to be the first option. Tezuka just did not seem to have that kind of humor when his brain was occupied by tennis and tennis only. What a boring guy…

"Hoi! I am still on the stage! Nya, am I allowed to leave now?" asked a pouting Eiji at a sighing Oishi, who nodded in return. He was helpless when the whole team seemed to go against him.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Ochibi! Don't sound so forced," Eiji commanded with a wide grin and gained agreements from everyone else. Ryoma was very stiff on the stage. Mostly it was because of the blackmail incident and the stupid role he was assigned to.

Gritting his teeth, Ryoma sneered. "Hai, _stepmother_."

Not that Eiji minded being called like that. "Hoi! That's a good boy! Wait… my mistake. An obedient daughter. Hohohoho!" and he ended up laughing hysterically, followed by the others. Ryoma's veins popped up instantly as he blushed furiously.

He was too furious and embarrassed that he was totally oblivious of Inui's warning glare. He was stomping off, heading towards the laughing Eiji and was going to strangle him. Never mind if he was acting out of himself or ruining his reputation. He had had enough. Of course, Tezuka was there to save the day by commanding Ryoma to stop.

"Hai," was the unwilling reply from him as he stood there with hands shaking with anger. Later, he stomped off to wash his face as commanded by Tezuka.

"If Echizen is Cinderella, don't let Eiji be the stepmother… Otherwise, before we can start the actual play, there's already bloodshed," Inui exchanged looks with a worried Oishi.

"Both of them will have to change roles," was the firm reply.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hoi! Fuji is most suitable to be the envious stepsister," Eiji turned to Kawamura, who only scratched his head in return. "But then, Fuji can act very well so any role is fine to him! Nya!"

"I thought he is trying for the Cinderella role?" asked Kaidoh suddenly, but no one answered. They were too occupied to Fuji's excellent acting, in which Kaidoh felt left out and caused him to hiss.

"Echizen's too arrogant to be the sweet Cinderella. They're definitely going to change him," commented a smirking Momoshiro and Ryoma only grunted in response. He had become calmer after washing his face a while ago. "We all know how jealous he is when Fuji-senpai is considered being second in Seigaku," the violet-eyed junior taunted.

"Mada mada da ne," hearing those, they all knew Ryoma was back to his old self and had somehow controlled his anger.

"Cinderella is kind, caring, friendly, shy and hardworking." Once again, Tezuka's blunt comment surprised the rest.

'And Echizen is mean, uncaring, oblivious, arrogant and bold. But at least he is hardworking,' Momoshiro thought in silence, grinning all the time.

"For a moment, what Buchou said reminds me of Kawamura-senpai," Kaidoh decided to join in as well, and this time, his words were not ignored. Some of them imagined the said person in a dress with a wig and instantly, they felt nauseous.

"Idiot! That makes Taka-san a well-toned alien in a drag!" Momoshiro shouted at his rival after going into a coughing fit. The said person was speechless to give any response.

"Who asked you to imagine that, brainless fool!" yelled Kaidoh. All their shouts interrupted Fuji's acting and irritated Tezuka nonetheless. The duo was at each other's throat before they found themselves being punished to run around the hall under Tezuka's order.

What a long day this is going to be…

**: To be continued :**


	10. Audition II

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: Oh, I own Tenipuri? Yeah, only in my dreams.

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, humor, slight suspense

Pairing: Tezuka and Ryoma thrown in for fun… at least for Fuji's entertainment lol.

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, 1500 words. Hmm… in truth, if you don't see Oishi and Ryoma pairing, then Tezuka and Ryoma pairing does not count too lol.

The last part of the audition is here. Next will be the drama practices. Anyway, I want to know if any of you like me to write the whole drama or only some humorous parts?

Thanks to Carzla for editing this chapter (additional note: she said she seriously pities Tezuka lol). Please drop a review with an answer to my question, ne? Thanks!

**: Ready… Go :**

Chapter 9 – Audition II

The fighting duo came back later after completing 50 laps outside the school hall. A cruel fate awaited them as Inui walked towards them with two cups of his infamous juice and a very mischievous grin. The poor juniors were unconscious a few seconds later with two empty cups nearby while the others could only tremble at the pitiful sight of the two collapsed regulars.

"Not even a tiff is allowed," the mad scientist declared, holding another cup of his juice in front of the others. "Otherwise you are welcome to drink my newly invented Special Edition Blue Heaven." That statement alone had caused all of them to cower in fear, leaving only two unaffected people. The name of his juice was enough to send chills to everyone.

'If we drink it, we will really be in Heaven and meet some angels.'

If Tezuka was threatened, he did not show it. On the other hand, Fuji was flashing his usual smile as he trotted towards Inui. "Saa… it looks excellent," he complimented as the others silently wondered if the world was full of these enigmas. If so, they would be better off living on Mars or contemplating suicide.

"Alright, Tezuka is next," Oishi was first to regain his composure and decided to waste no more time. Immediately, everyone was focusing on their captain, who was walking towards the middle of the stage and the audition continued in pure silence suddenly.

A few minutes passed by peacefully. "Tezuka is graceful and gentlemanly so he is most suited to be a royal," Fuji commented while rubbing his chin as if in deep thought. "But being the King is a bit too old for him," he added with a chuckle.

"Tezuka was once mistaken as a teacher by my father so I don't think it's a problem," Kawamura said bluntly, causing the others to laugh instantly. Suddenly he realized he might have caused Tezuka embarrassment and quickly tried to cover it. "No! I urm… don't mean Tezuka is old! It's just…"

Before he could continue, someone interrupted. "Nya! Tezuka should be the prince in my opinion, but the prince is a hopeless romantic!" Eiji chuckled as he squeezed Ryoma in a tight hug. Ryoma was thankful that he did not have to play doubles with the hyper third year and wondered how could their vice captain stand Eiji all day.

"While Buchou is an expressionless real life 'pillar'…" Nevertheless, the freshman was glad that he was used to Eiji's occasional hugs and was excited to seize a chance of mocking their stoic captain nonetheless. It seemed like even he was influenced by Fuji's sadistic.

In the middle of his acting, Tezuka narrowed his hazel eyes dangerously. His hearing was as sharp as his vision and none of their conversations had escaped his ears. In the end, he glared at the noisy audience, asking them to shut up if they valued their lives. The directors had no idea what happened since they were sitting quite far from the rest, but they did exchange questioning looks with each other.

Only one was brave enough to continue the fun of teasing the great and mighty Tezuka. "Perhaps the 'pillar' looks good in a dress?" Fuji smiled innocently. This time his voice was loud enough to reach both the directors and Oishi paled at the thought.

"He is less muscular than Taka-san by 39.8 percent. Thus there is a 43.5 percent he looks better than Taka-san in a dress considering his height, weight and physical looks." Inui calculated and his hand was working at a high speed as he wrote down all the so-called 'good data'. It was beyond everyone how those weird numbers appeared, but coming from the data collector, no one had the inclination to know how. It was creepy enough to scare them off.

"30 laps around the school, everyone!" Tezuka's patience wore off at last. When Oishi tried to calm him down, the vice-captain found himself running more laps than the others without knowing why. Inui was too occupied with his data that he could care less if they, the directors who had the authorities, were being punished.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Finally, the four boys had finished running laps and were back to the school hall where Tezuka and the unconscious regulars who were spared from the punishment. Among all of them, only Momoshiro, Kaidoh, Inui and Oishi were left. Since Oishi had yet to arrive due the prolonged punishment, and both of the juniors were still in no condition to perform, Inui volunteered to go next. His role was a minor role, so they all agreed that he was satisfactory and there was no need for a change.

After a few minutes, Kaidoh and Momoshiro had recovered and Oishi was back in the hall, exhausted. Momoshiro was next and he stepped on stage hesitantly before he began.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Momo as the Fairy _Godfather_… I would think Eiji makes a better fairy if you ask me," Fuji rubbed his chin again. Eiji only made some noises as he nodded eagerly.

"Anything is better than being the stepmother of Ochibi!" he pouted adorably, gaining some chuckles.

"Oh, really? Then I'm glad to get rid of this role!" Momoshiro, who overheard the conversation due to Eiji's loud voice, exclaimed in happiness. However, the next sentence was enough to throw him off stage.

"Nya! Then you will be the stepmother!" was Eiji's overly cheerful reply.

"Hell no!" Momoshiro wailed before he fainted comically at the acrobatic player's reply.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Kaidoh was called by Inui to go next and although he was reluctant, he was considered okay. Thus, it was decided he would be assigned to that role.

"He's nothing but a snake that can drive a carriage," Momoshiro jeered. Several eyebrows were raised and a headache was forming.

"You wanna pick a fight, you insolent fairy!" Kaidoh yelled. And once again the others found themselves watching history repeat itself. They quietly kept count as to when would Tezuka snap at the duo. A pissed Tezuka was such an amusing sight to watch, as long as he aimed his displeasure the _others_.

"Mada mada da ne," Ryoma pulled his cap lower as their annoyed captain yelled to the duo.

"100 laps!"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Oishi was the last one to audition. He walked onto the stage and was breathing in and out to fight off his nervousness. At Inui's signal, he began his part.

"Nya! Prince Oishi and Ochibi-rella. The pair is weird, right Fuji?" the hyper Eiji elbowed the genius beside him while pointing a finger at a flushed Oishi. Ryoma grunted in response and Tezuka was taking his aspirin _again_. How many times had he taken them? No one counted and no one dared to ask an annoyed Tezuka.

Fuji only chuckled at his classmate's comment. "Perhaps Prince Tezuka and Echi-rella make a good pair?" he asked with a slight teasing tone, to which it earned a choke and a suspiciously stifled cough from the mentioned boys. It was all recorded in Inui's notebook in less than ten seconds.

Kawamura was standing in a corner observing the others since he was speechless all the time. A soft thud startled him and out the corner of his eyes, he saw a tennis racket lying on the floor. Deciding to be polite, he picked up the racket in order to return it to its rightful owner. That was, before he switched to his 'burning' mode and was shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Burning! You can't choose Echi-rella! My 'stepsister' is way prettier than 'her'!"

Everyone else was dumbfounded at his exclamation. Apparently, Kawamura was too indulged in the audition. Fuji blinked several times before bursting out in laughter at Ryoma's flushing face, Eiji's opened mouth, Tezuka's widened eyes, Oishi's fall and Inui's twisted look.

'Too bad both Momo and Kaidoh are not here…' Fuji thought with a snigger.

The different expressions on each face were priceless to the prodigy. The pictures he managed to capture without anyone's knowledge were definitely going into a special album. It was perfect to be blackmail material alongside an album he titled 'Echizen's Childhood' which he had used less than a quarter of his collection to threaten the freshman before.

Speaking of which, when did Kawamura develop such thoughts of Fuji anyway? To declare that he was prettier than the baby of their team was…unnerving to the others although it was the truth. Nevertheless, the audition ended smoothly with only a few interruptions and no serious injuries thanks to Kami-sama.

When Momoshiro and Kaidoh returned, they were clueless and confused to see an amused Fuji, an embarrassed Kawamura, an unconscious Oishi, a pouting Eiji, as well as two unaffected Tezuka and Inui. At the end of the day, to their relief, they were informed that apart from Inui and Kaidoh's roles, everyone would be assigned to a new role.

"Tezuka? Aren't you overdosed?" Fuji asked curiously, looking at the half empty bottle of aspirins in Tezuka's hand.

**: To be continued :**


	11. Interlude: Roles

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: If only I own Tenipuri… Ah, how sweet it'll be to own those cuties.

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, slight humor, slight suspense

Pairing: Implied Tezuka and Fuji

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, 1000 words. Nothing else to be warned of since I am not one to write anything that contains adult themes or such.

This is done especially for those who are already dying to know the new roles given to everyone! Sorry for the super late update; I was facing a lot of problems for the past few weeks. Oh yeah, I edited 'Chapter 8 – Preparations' as 'Interlude – Preparations'. Reason one; it's shorter than my supposed chapters. Reason two; it fills out the gap between events.

Thanks to Carzla for being my beta reader. Please drop a review after reading ne? Thanks!

**: Ready… Go :**

Interlude - Roles

The next morning, the regulars were given a new script that Oishi and Inui had worked overnight on editing the lines based on the new roles that were assigned to the seven of them. The instant the regulars took the new script, everyone, excluding a few people, did the same thing; they opened the first page and scanned through the new roles they were given.

It was time for photographs, Fuji mused in mild amusement as he silently retrieved his camera. Beside him, Inui was ready with his data collecting tools, while Kaidoh just kept silent since he did not share their curiosity, Oishi was sighing and Tezuka was staring at his script as though he was hoping for something else to happen.

"I am the _stepfather_? I doubt I can manage it…" Kawamura voiced out his concerns timidly. Eiji bounced towards the worried regular and placed his tennis racket in his hand as everyone nodded knowingly. Turning on his 'burning' mode would solve everything, after all. "Burning! I can do just fine!"

Momoshiro, on the other hand, was laughing alone hysterically. "I am the _stepbrother_! And Echizen is the _stepsister_! Hahahaha!" No one else knew why the idea of making Momoshiro the stepbrother of Ryoma was so hilarious. They were too concerned about their own roles to care about the others for the moment.

The youngest amongst them all, Ryoma could care less. He dreaded whatever role they assigned to him, since he was blackmailed into it. It was against his will to act as a girl, so he would never give his full cooperation whatsoever. He just knew that he was doomed the moment Fuji flashed his infamous menacing smile at him. That was _just_ what the other genius did merely a second ago.

"Che," he frowned, pulling his cap lower to cover his rebellious eyes. "I doubt Fuji-senpai's innocent enough to be _Cinderella_. He'll just ruin the image," Ryoma murmured under his breath when his catlike eyes spotted where his senior's name was.

Eiji, on the other hand, was bouncing joyfully around everybody. "Yay! I'm the _Fairy Godmother_! Nya! And Oishi is the _King_!" With that, he hugged his doubles' partner from behind casually. Oishi blushed slightly out of embarrassment.

All the while, Tezuka was still staring at his script, but his attention was not on his name. His hazel eyes were fixed on one particular name – Fuji's. Apparently, he was Cinderella's lover, and he need not be reminded that Fuji was playing the dreaded role. A cold chill descended around him, sending shivers up his spine. Somehow, he had a feeling that everything was _jinxed_ by that dangerous smiling genius.

The said genius was busy snapping pictures until he stopped right in front of the troubled captain. Upon seeing Tezuka's stiff look, he grinned in triumph. "You know, Tezuka. You are my Prince Charming," he said with an_ innocent_ smile, causing the others to stare at the two of them with widened eyes.

"Wah! I didn't know Fuji'll confess so easily! Nya, Oishi! This is big news!" Their acrobatic player pulled on Oishi's sleeve in an overexcited way.

His partner shook his head violently. "That's not the point, Eiji!"

"The point is, I had absolutely no idea Buchou is gay!" Momoshiro interjected Oishi's scolding with a yelp.

Kaidoh merely hissed in surprise at Fuji's comment and strangely he blushed slightly, while Inui jotted down everything with a malevolent smirk. Kawamura's racket had been taken away from him a few minutes ago so he only scratched his head in confusion, being unable to remember much when in 'burning' mode. A metallic thud was heard as Ryoma dropped his can of Ponta in shock.

Tezuka was the only one remained expressionless, although obviously several veins were already forming on his forehead. "Fuji," he warned threateningly, but it held little power against the sadistic regular.

Nevertheless, Fuji decided to explain. "Maa, I was talking about the play. See?" He pointed at his name and then at Tezuka's. "I'm Cinderella and Tezuka is the Prince. That was what I meant," he explained in a soft voice. It was then when everyone sighed in relief. "But I wouldn't mind if you wanted to take it the way you imagined…" he added, chuckling slyly.

Several scandalized cries of 'Fuji-senpai!' and 'Fuji!' were heard right after his joke. "Momoshiro and Kikumaru, 50 laps around the courts now. Fuji, 100 laps," was all Tezuka said after all of them had calmed down. The said junior and third-year complained why they should be punished, but it was cut off by an annoyed Tezuka, who threatened to add more punishing laps if they dared to complain. Patting both Momoshiro and Eiji's shoulders, Fuji grinned before setting off like it was sweet routine to him.

"Saa… I bet that Atobe would want to get his hands on these lovely photos. Ah, they'll sell just fine," the sadist mumbled happily as he picked up his speed. His words were almost inaudible, but to one who had sharp hearing such as Eiji, they were heard perfectly clearly.

Deciding to run with Fuji for a few words, the acrobatic player sped up as well, leaving a curious Momoshiro behind. "Ne, Fuji. Give me some of the commission okay? I helped too!"

After settling the rest of the regulars down, Oishi was rubbing his temples slowly as he felt a headache forming steadily. Now he understood why Tezuka often rubbed his forehead grumpily. "Tezuka, do you happen to have a few aspirins to spare?"

Instantly, a bottle of aspirins was placed into his hand wordlessly. Oishi's eyes widened in fear when he saw Tezuka's bag contained several empty bottles of aspirins already. But he immediately refrained himself from saying anything out of worry under that infamous death glare from the bespectacled boy.

Mentally, Oishi prayed to the Kami-sama that nothing bad would happen to their captain if he continued to take those aspirins much too often for it to be healthy.

**: To be continued :**

Additional: Here's the list of roles for those who are confused or something like that. Sorry to disappoint those who gave me ideas on the roles.

_Cinderella – Fuji Syusuke_

_Prince – Tezuka Kunimitsu_

_Stepfather – Kawamura Takashi_

_Stepbrother – Momoshiro Takeshi_

_Stepsister – Echizen Ryoma_

_Fairy Godmother – Kikumaru Eiji_

_King – Oishi Syuichiroh_

_Carriage driver – Kaidoh Kaoru_

_Prince's assistant – Inui Sadaharu_

Certainly, some of you already knew the roles beforehand because they went to see my DA and FAC accounts, where I uploaded an artwork related to this particular fanfiction of mine. You may be interested to see it and here's the link. Beware of the possible **spoilers** of my fanfiction in that artwork.

Kindly remove the spaces in between when you copy and paste it into your browser.

www. deviantart. com/ deviation /29779825/ OR www. fanart-central. net /pic-375834.html

Oh, the Tenipuri characters are in super-deformed forms (a.k.a 'chibis'). Hope you like it!


	12. Dream

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: I'll make a pitiful Tezuka if I own Tenipuri. :grins:

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Drama, humor, slight romance

Pairing: Tezuka and Fuji, implied Fuji and Ryoma (up to you if you see it), implied one-sided Ryoma and Tezuka (up to you if you see it)

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, 1500 words, crappiness. I bet it's pretty pointless… Lol.

I manage to torture Tezuka in this chapter! XD Hahahaha. It was so much fun writing this one. Oh yeah, finally there are some obvious Tezuka and Fuji moments. Though I bet the title gives away everything, I still think it suits the chapter the best. :D Hope you enjoy reading!

Yeah, this chapter is from Tezuka's POV (not the first person's POV though). By the way, thank you to those who went to see my fanart:bows: Glad you like the chibies. Also thanks to Carzla for editing this chapter!

Kindly drop a review, dear readers. Let me know what you think.

**: Ready… Go : **

Chapter 10 - Dream

Tezuka had no idea how, why and what was happening. All of a sudden he found himself being surrounded by the group of regulars with the eager looks. It meant nothing but chaos. "Oh, Tezuka! You look fantastically _lovely_ in it!" Fuji's feminine voice echoed at the back of his head, followed by some giggles from the others. Tezuka raised a questioning eyebrow.

Lovely? What did the genius mean by it? Bemused, Tezuka looked down at his own body and was revolted, although his face betrayed none of his inner emotions.

Tezuka Kunimitsu, their respected captain with the usual poker face, was wearing a silky white _gown_ with lots of ribbons. Yes, I repeat that - _lots_ of ribbons and the gown was sleeveless; that was one thing to be dreaded. Not to mention he was wearing some make up, as much as he hated to admit the make sure was smoother than he had expected, and a blond wig. Thus, imagine the ultimate surprise of our dear captain. Luckily he had enough pride to not lose his composure and tear the clothing considered a gown by women.

"Sure! Buchou looks beautiful enough." This time it was Momoshiro's voice. _Beautiful_? What on earth? Could they not see how hard he was refraining from throwing up at his own reflection? Were they blind or something? Perhaps Inui's juice had something to do with their illogical responses? Either way, he restrained his hands from finding their way to squeeze the others' necks.

"Fuji-senpai is charming in the Prince's outfit too." Kaidoh commented out of blue, which caused Fuji to chuckle and bow a little. True enough, Fuji's clothes looked charming enough to make the girls squeal, considering how popular he was in their school.

"Prince Fuji and Ochibi-rella fit most! Nya!" Suddenly Kikumaru bounced around before tackling both prodigies in a bear hug, nearly causing the smaller out of the three to choke. Echizen merely grunted grumpily before he turned away from looking at his taller seniors in the eyes.

So, Fuji was the Prince, Echizen as Cinderella and him as… who? Only then he realized he had no idea who he was dubbed as. But was he not the Prince? However, he was too clueless to his surroundings, let alone what was happening right there. He felt like his brain had stopped working at the moment.

"Come on, Tezuka-buchou! You are supposed to say something like 'The Prince belongs to me!' or something like that!" Tezuka swore mentally, Momoshiro was going to run laps more than anyone else during practice. Maybe he should ask Inui to force his foul liquid down Momoshiro's throat too… Ahh! What was he thinking at a critical time like this! It was not the time for killing his brain cells to think of how to torture them. It was time for him to stop the nonsense!

He was being dubbed as the envious _stepsister_ for Kami-sama's sake! And did he need to ask when did they change the roles? Without his knowledge too! Heck, when had he agreed to be assigned a girl's role? Weren't the girls' roles assigned to only Kikumaru, Echizen and Fuji? But no matter how he protested, his body failed to listen to him. He did the stupidest thing in the world by gapping like a gold fish.

"Saa… I can understand Tezuka wants to enjoy his new look," Fuji replied to Momoshiro's earlier remark with another sly grin. Really, Fuji should learn when to keep his big mouth shut at times, especially when Tezuka was not in the mood for a nasty prank. In fact, he was ready to kill someone, best if that someone was the sadistic genius that was grinning at him right now.

However, the next thing that happened was more than enough for Tezuka to contemplate suicide. He had, indeed, run towards the said brown-haired prodigy and tackled him to the ground. "The shoe belongs to me!" He found his own voice shrieking as he took the glass shoe from the supposed prince's hand and forcefully fit into it with his obviously oversized feet.

He did not just do that, did he now? Tezuka freaking swore it was not his doing. Some homeless spirit must have possessed his body! But the others looked like it was normal for him to act like that. They did not even twitch, nor vomit at the sight of him tugging his feet into the pitiful shoe. He was sitting on the ground with his left foot forcing itself into the small space of the shoe, hair messed up in the process of the violent action, the gown's ribbons were pulled off, and most importantly, the long skirt was beginning to show his leg thanks to his repeated attempts to abuse the shoe.

Where did the _real_ him go? That was an impostor but no one realized! In dismay, Tezuka wanted to yell at them, telling them to run laps or whatsoever. Just spare him from such terrible embarrassment! Kami-sama, save his dignity at the very least, although I would say his dignity was all lost already.

"Oh dear, it seems like Mitko-chan is desperate to fight for my love." Fuji chuckled mischievously as he pulled Tezuka's head closer gently. Echizen pouted adorably behind of all regulars, while the others were watching the scene displayed in front of them intensely. "Maa… I might just spare such _pretty lady_ a little peck on the pinkish lips."

No, he did not need that! He could let Fuji live with the nickname but definitely _not _this! Seriously, the last thing on Earth he wanted was such an unpalatable affection in the public. He could live without Fuji's kiss or his love in that manner. Believe it or not, Tezuka actually panicked when Fuji closed his eyes and his lips were dangerously coming closer to the stoic boy's. He could feel the other's soft breath and the distance was so close; their lips were slightly touching…

"NO!" His own voice echoed, and Tezuka found himself sitting up straight on his own bed in his room with sweats. Realizing what he had gone through was nothing more than a _nightmare_; he let out a relieved sigh. No wonder he was acting so unlike his usual self. Dreams were always the opposite of reality, someone had once said.

Though, if he agreed to the saying, it would mean the emotionless boy _desired _for Fuji's kiss in reality as much as he detested it in his dream. Was it not?

Shaking his head quickly, Tezuka growled at his own thought. What was he thinking? The dream, no, _nightmare_ must have dealt a great impact on him until his thoughts were messed up entirely. It was thanks to a certain effeminate genius with the name of Fuji Syusuke in their team to corrupt a perfectly normal person like Tezuka. The said boy influenced him more than he liked to admit. Tezuka found out ever since he agreed to the principal's request, he had been pensive of it at every single moment.

After a few minutes, Tezuka regained his composure and was feeling grateful that his scream did not alarm his already awake grandparents in his household. He would have to deal the serious problems if he did, not to mention some sort of humiliation if his mother ever found out about his thoughts regarding Fuji for a moment there…

"It's time for practice," he murmured as he wore his glasses and saw the clock, distracting his mind from the dream and Fuji. Standing up, Tezuka went towards his cupboard, grabbed a black t-shirt as well as a pair of blue jeans, and proceeded to his bathroom. After washing his face and brushing his teeth, he changed into the simple outfit before he took a sling bag and went out of his house without having breakfast.

He never complained when it came to practices, seeing how he loved tennis with a passion and practiced hard for it. But it was different that day, which was Sunday and they were having a drama practice instead of the usual tennis practice. That alone was enough to send chills to his spines. Not to mention that after having such a troubling dream, his mind kept showing him the close-up of Fuji's kissable lips...

Enough of everything related to Fuji! He sped up abruptly, almost banging into a tree. It was then when realization hit him hard on the head. He left the script on his study table yesterday and had completely forgotten to put it back to his bag. Feeling slightly peeved, Tezuka walked back towards his house, entered his room, hastily took the script, opened his bag, and was going to tug the script into it before he had a sudden urge to do _something_.

The handsome boy decided to run a scan through the first page of it first, just in case. It was better to be safe than sorry, after all.

**: To be continued :**


	13. Late

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: What is the meaning of 'FanFiction'? You know it.

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Drama, humor, slight suspense

Pairing: Fuji and Ryoma (if you see it that way), implied Momoshiro and Ryoma (if you see it that way), implied Tezuka and Ryoma (if you see it that way)

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1500 words.

It was so much fun to torture Tezuka in the last chapter so this time is Ryoma's turn! Oh well, though I think I did quite a bad job, if it's to be compared to my other chapters. Anyway, hope you enjoy reading and please feel free to give me any idea you want to.

Oh yeah, sorry for the late update. College has been keeping me occupied. :sobs: And yay for the 10000+ hits as well as 100+ reviews. I'll try to keep all the nonsense humors aside and work on the real drama. Bet you all are getting impatient. :winks:

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story! Nyu, do drop a review na?

**: Ready… Go :**

Chapter 11 – Late

"Echizen, it's time to wake up…" a soft voice called, but to no avail. Pausing for a moment, a better idea crossed Fuji's mind. "I wonder if Momo and Tezuka are interested in a kitty Echizen," he cooed into the sleeping boy's ears with a sly smirk. Almost instantly, Ryoma's eyes popped open and he jerked up from his slumber like a robot. 'Ah, how effective it is,' Fuji thought silently as he stared at Ryoma's widened eyes.

It would appear that the boy did not realize his senior was in his house, to be precise; he was in his room and was sitting on the edge of his bed. It took him a few seconds for that thought to cross his bewildered mind and he nearly had a heart attack. 'What on earth is Fuji-senpai doing here in my room _and_ on my bed!' his mind was practically screaming.

Upon registering the questioning look on Ryoma's face, Fuji grinned wider. "Momoshiro's late to the practice and he thought you come on your own. But when we realized you are still sleeping at this hour, I volunteered to pick you up," he offered an explanation as he stood up slowly. "Seems like our little prince is not a morning person," Fuji teased, which it nearly earned a growl from Ryoma if he was not facing the older currently.

"Would you mind leaving my room for a while so that I can change?" the sour boy asked without offering an apology for being late to practice and for the trouble his senior went through. 'If anything, I'm sure he enjoys it!'

Raising an eyebrow, Fuji walked towards the door casually. "Maa… and here I was thinking that I could snap a few gorgeous pictures," was all Ryoma heard before the other prodigy stepped out and closed the door. Ryoma interpreted his last sentence as 'Maa… and here I was thinking that I could have more blackmail material' and shuddered automatically. He made a mental note to lock his door from that day onwards. Though, vaguely he remembered he did lock up his room the night before…

"Inui said you can't be late for more than an hour!" he heard Fuji's call out slightly louder than his normal tone. He checked his alarm clock and realized he overslept for half an hour. Maybe if he were fast, he would reach the school in less than half an hour's time. After getting ready in haste, he went out of his room and descended the stairs. However, some laughter and voices distracted him and he slowed down his pace.

"The brat is always like this! I apologize on his behalf for all your trouble, Fuji-kun," a deep voice said, followed by a short laugh. Ryoma recognized the voice as Echizen Nanjiroh's at once. What was his father talking about? Embarrassing his own son like this, the boy mused crossly.

'And Fuji-senpai planed this all! I freaking swear the sadist loves seeing me being tortured!' Really, if Ryoma was more of Momoshiro than an egoistic brat like what he showed the world, he may have already shouted those words at his father emotionally.

"Oh no, it's not troubling at all. I was the one who volunteered. And being a father is really hard. You really make a great parent, Echizen-san," Fuji replied, changing the topic effectively because Nanjiroh grinned sheepishly. Mentally, Ryoma groaned. Fuji praised his father? Gosh, it only spelled chaos.

"If only Ryoma has a tiny bit of your manners, I'd thank Kami-sama for my whole life," Nanjiroh replied, the grin still plastered on his face. As a reply, Fuji only smiled politely.

'Better go before that stupid father of mine says more or before Fuji-senpai asks some embarrassing questions,' Ryoma thought firmly. The incident of being blackmailed by the third year regular was vivid in his mind. Speaking of which, if he put his perverted father and a cunning Fuji together somewhere, Ryoma swore he would regret it for eternity. Grunting at his own thoughts, Ryoma headed towards the main door without even greeting his father. Instead, he just tugged his feet into a pair of sports shoes and went out of his house in silence. Seeing his departure, Fuji followed suit after a bow and 'thank you'.

"How proper his senior is. That brat has such a great senior and yet he mentioned nothing of it," the elder Echizen murmured with his right hand rubbing his chin as if deep in thought. Ah, if only he knew the famous sadistic side of Fuji… maybe he would reconsider his impression on the genius. If only he knew.

Outside the Echizen household, the twelve-year-old boy walked almost too quickly for his normal speed. Fuji, who was following the other, did not ask any awkward questions to his relief. But, that did not mean he could not say something to mock the baby of their team, did it? "Echizen-san said he doesn't believe your taste to be unique and all," the soft voice cooed.

At first Ryoma did not pay attention to what his senior was talking about. He was too busy thinking on how to escape Fuji's schemes to notice the smirk on the other's face. It was until he realized he was blocked by Fuji did he raise an eyebrow. To his discomfort, Fuji grinned knowingly and it was that kind of creepy grin he wore every time he turned on his sadistic mode. "Ne, don't you agree you pick the _perfect boyfriend_?"

If Ryoma was drinking a can of his favorite Ponta, he might have ended up choking or spitting. The words 'Fuji', 'perfect' and 'boyfriend' were _not_ supposed to fit together in one sentence. No, it was not merely a grammatical misusage or something like that. It was just so wrong to put them together, Ryoma mused. The youngest regular would never deny Fuji appeared to be perfect in certain ways (though he would never admit it either). Yet, 'perfect boyfriend' was altogether a taboo.

Yes, definitely a taboo especially when the word was directly related to Fuji Syusuke. And the boy forgot to deny the fact Fuji implied that he swung that way. "What are you trying to imply, Fuji-senpai?" In the end, Ryoma decided to confront his senior bravely. It was now or never. He had to end all these flirting or whatever Fuji liked to call it.

So, he quickened his pace in order to catch up with Fuji, who had started to resume walking. "Am I implying something?" Instantly, Ryoma growled in annoyance and earned a chuckle from the sandy-haired boy. He hated such mind games, which reminded Fuji of a certain captain. "I'm a boy and I am your friend so that makes me your 'boy friend'. At least I believe you consider me as your friend. Why, am I wrong to assume such?"

Trust Fuji to twist the words and turn them into something people would never imagine. 'Better than being marked as a rival by you anyway...' The younger then pulled his cap lower to cover his frown. 'First the blackmail, then the surprise visit, and now this! Just what does he want…' Ryoma sighed mentally. 'This is just a waste of time… Wait!' It was only then the younger prodigy realized something.

As if on cue, Fuji chose to answer his thought. "By the way, I forgot to remind you that Inui said whoever is late for _more_ than an hour is going to drink his juice for one whole _week_," Fuji's mischievous voice said as he titled his head aside with his left hand holding his chin. "Oh, and you are late for…" he paused to check his watch for a moment. "… an hour and seven minutes," he finished his speech finally after they stepped into Seigaku.

Oh my, they had spent more than half an hour walking to school? Poor Ryoma was seriously doomed. 'He loves to torture me!' If he was more like the acrobatic player in their team maybe he had already wailed pitifully. All he did, however, was to break into a run towards their school's hall. Behind him, Fuji merely smiled and strolled casually after the anxious freshman. "Don't say I didn't warn you, Echizen," the genius murmured in an amused voice. "You are so much like our dear Buchou in many ways."

"For lunch you'll have Inui Juice in your menu for this entire week, Echizen," Inui's firm voice echoed just as a panting Ryoma stepped into the hall. All heads turned to look at him. Almost immediately, they sympathized with the youngest player. From the looks of it, he was going to faint any moment.

Upon hearing Inui's statement, there was a thud as Ryoma collapsed onto the hard ground unceremoniously. But it was not so uncalled for. Really, Ryoma thought he might as well take a break from all the misfortunes and insanities. Little did he know, more chaos would be coming soon…

**: To be continued :**


	14. Interlude: Costumes

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: I wish I own Fuji… but sadly I don't.

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Drama, humor, suspense

Pairing: Implied Atobe and Fuji, implied Tezuka and Fuji, implied Momoshiro and Ryoma

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, possible spoilers, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1000 words.

Many thanks to those who left reviews, and added this story to their alerts/favorites. It's an honor to hear from my wonderful readers.

Wow, it had been a long time since I last updated. Sorry, writer's block, laziness and college life… you do the maths. Lol. I can't resist writing this interlude. Hehehe. Hope you enjoy reading and knowing more of Fuji's scheme… as well as more guessing lol.

The pairings are pretty much revealed, although they are just implications so far. Be aware though, a few of them are just for humors and not the exact pairings.

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story.

Oh, please drop a review ne? Thanks.

**: Ready… Go :**

Interlude - Costumes

Momoshiro shuddered whenever the memories of that day came to haunt him. Sooner or later, he would be corrupted by both of his seniors.

One fine morning, he was dragged by the duo to go shopping. At first, it seemed to be innocent, but knowing Fuji and Eiji, Momoshiro knew better to judge at an early stage. And so, his predication came true when the duo stopped to linger at a lingerie shop.

"Look, Fujiko! That corset has lots of kitty's paws on it. Reminds me of Ochibi's cat nya!" Eiji exclaimed with his finger pointing at the said garment. Momoshiro only blushed and mentally chanted 'No, Echizen doesn't not look _sexy_ in that…'

The genius, on the other hand, only grinned when he saw Momoshiro's tensed shoulders. "Momoshiro, do you think we need them for the play?" Fuji asked with a sly smile.

Upon receiving no response, Eiji bounced on Momoshiro. "Hoi! Fujiko asked you a question nya! Don't think naughty thoughts about Ochibi!" he said, not knowing how true the comment was at the moment. It only darkened Momoshiro's blush and he turned away hurriedly. He was going to reply to Fuji's question and Eiji's comment before a deep familiar voice interrupted, successfully saving him from the embarrassment.

"Ore-sama thinks there is no need for that," Atobe said as he appeared from nowhere. His sudden appearance almost made Momoshiro jumped out of his skin, but the other two looked to have expected it. "What? Don't give me that look. Ore-sama can go wherever Ore-sama wants, moreover, this complex is owned by the Atobe household," the Hyoutei captain added when he saw the accusing look on the second year.

And the expression turned into one with shock. Obviously, he did not know that.

"Ah, Atobe, how nice of you to grace us with your presence," Fuji cut in with one of his trademark smiles.

"Hoi hoi! Atobe, I bet you like what we sent to you earlier, nya?" Eiji asked with another grin.

Both his seniors' attitudes confirmed Momoshiro's suspicions of a deal between them. Apparently, Eiji and Fuji were plotting something with Atobe.

"Ah, Fuji does have admirable skills in photography. A genius will always remain a genius, eh," was the reply from the diva. He brushed away his bangs in a graceful manner and smirked at Fuji. "The costumes are done. Follow me," he continued as he strolled towards a shop across them.

Eiji shot his best friend a wink while the younger of them only followed with curiosity. That meant his seniors asked Atobe for help on the costumes eh? Last time Momoshiro checked, Fuji did not show any liking for the wealthy diva from Hyoutei. Especially during the match Atobe had against Tezuka, Fuji was emitting a strong aura of dislike around him. To see Fuji associating with the one who hurt his teammate and important friend was odd. Perhaps Momoshiro had missed out something? Just as their data analyzer, Inui said, Fuji remained a mystery and hard to be predicted.

All right, that only added into his list of 'Why one _never_ tries to annoy Fuji-senpai'.

"That's fashionable!" Eiji's exclaim snapped him out of his thought and he raised his head to stare at the costumes on the hangers. "Wow, they're so cool!"

"How can you expect less from Ore-sama? These are designed by top designers in the world," Atobe stated smugly.

Fuji was staring at one particular costume with his ever-lasting smile plastered on. "Maa, Eiji will look gorgeous in the Fairy costume," he commented, his hands tugging at the said gown but his opened sapphire eyes were gazing at a certain male costume. Meanwhile, Momoshiro was too busy staring at another female costume, which was clearly too small to fit on someone's body except their team's baby, Ryoma. Eiji was admiring the other costumes.

Of course, Atobe noticed Fuji's gaze on Tezuka's costume, but he made no comment about it. Instead, he walked behind the sandy-haired genius and leaned down a little until his lips were close enough to Fuji's ear for whispering. "My generosity is _not_ one without payment. Your settlement won't be any less, Fuji," he whispered seductively. "Your gown is the most unique so you better make the _best_ use of it…" he added suggestively.

That little display was enough to catch both of Eiji and Momoshiro's attention, successfully halting whatever they were doing and they openly gawked at those two with widened eyes.

"Aa, I am very much aware of it, Atobe," was Fuji's reply. He turned to look at the smirking captain with an equal mischievous smile on his lips. "Like you said, how can I expect any less from you?"

Almost in an instant, the other's right hand was tilting Fuji's chin upwards and his sapphire eyes were staring at Atobe's piercing gaze. It was as if his Insight could see through everything, but Fuji did have a firm shield that protected him from Atobe's knowing stare. His sudden act startled the other two as gasps were heard but both of them chose to ignore it.

"Ore-sama wishes you all the best then," the diva whispered again as he let go after a few seconds. With that, he disappeared silently leaving two frozen Seigaku regulars with one smiling prodigy.

"I don't know Atobe has a _thing_ for guys, much less Fuji-senpai…" Momoshiro mumbled when he regained his composure.

"Nya! Don't tell me the payment is…" Eiji's voice faded as he stared at his best friend from head to toe.

"Sort of," was the simple reply coming from Fuji. A thud was heard after his answer. Without having to turn around, Fuji knew Momoshiro had fainted. "Maa… why such a big reaction upon hearing Atobe only wants my pictures in the gown?"

This time Eiji answered him with an evil glint in his eyes. "It certainly didn't look like that just now."

"Saa… and it also shows that your acting skills are getting better," Fuji replied nonchalantly.

**: To be continued :**

Once again, whoever wished to see my fanart of this particular fanfiction, you are encouraged to drop a review to ask for the direct link or simply browse through my previous chapters for the said link. ;)


	15. Plan

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: No owner will write a fanfiction…

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, humor, slight suspense

Pairing: Implied one-sided Kawamura and Fuji, implied Tezuka and Fuji

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1500 words.

Wow, it really has been a long delay. Sorry. But oh well, my life is messed up. Anyway, I present to you chapter 12 of this fanfiction. Hope you enjoy. A little insight within their drama practices and Ryoma's corrupted life. Hehehe. Next chapter shall be the real drama… but please don't rush me to update okay?

Oh yeah, someone suggested an idea to me long time ago and I decided it's time for me to include it in my story. Sorry to make you wait that long and I hope the way I wrote your idea is up to your expectations.

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story. :D And to the readers, please review na?

**: Ready… Go :**

Chapter 12 - Plan

"… Kawamura-senpai, you are reciting Tezuka's lines…" On the stage, a slightly annoyed Kaidoh informed a burning mode Kawamura in a polite tone.

"Burning! You must marry _me_, Fuji-ella!!" In the middle of the stage, Kawamura appeared not to hear what Kaidoh said.

"Inui-senpai, why is it my role becomes stepsister all of a sudden?!" At the backstage, a very pissed off Momoshiro yelled at an unabashed Inui.

"Calm down, Momoshiro. It's just a typing error." Also at the backstage, a worried 'mommy' Oishi tried his best to sooth his second year junior.

"But Echizen keeps rubbing it in my face!!" Moving to stand in front of their vice-captain, Momoshiro pointed an accusing finger at a smirking freshman.

"I just followed what's written in the _script_, Momo-senpai." Pulling his cap down, Echizen merely thought 'Revenge is sweet. Lesson from Fuji-senpai.'

"Nya! Everyone else is messing up, na Fujiko? … EH?!" Somewhere between the front stage and backstage, a hyper Eiji gasped when he saw something unexpected.

"… Fuji." Trapped between Fuji and the floor, a dangerous Tezuka glared at the smiling genius.

"Sorry, Tezuka. I tripped because of these… high heels." Rising to his feet and offering a hand, an amused Fuji only offered a half-hearted apology for the little accident.

"100 percent Fuji tripped on purpose." Behind the paperboard bushes, a data collector appeared from backstage to jot down the important details.

In short, the first few practices were totally… chaotic.

Echizen Ryoma was born to face doom everyday. He had a great prodigy father who gave up on a championship and who was only interested in reading perverted magazines behind his newspaper. Not to mention that his father loved to mock his _baby_ son and he was the reason Ryoma was blackmailed by Fuji in the first place!

'Stupid oyaji and his perverted thoughts,' Ryoma thought grumpily as he walked away from the hall to buy a can of grape Ponta. After a long drama practice, the directors decided to give them a short break of ten minutes. The young prodigy simply nodded at Inui's announcement and turned to leave.

"Horio-kun, someone has entered our school compound!"

The first year trio was on their way to the hall as promised. Inui and Oishi asked them to lend a hand on the backdrops and being agreeable kids, those three immediately agreed whole-heartedly. What they did not know was… that day was the first day they had a full dress rehearsal. Meaning to say, everyone was to wear their respective costumes. Well, only Fuji's costume was sent back to be readjusted and thus, he had to wear casual clothes (but he did try to wear the high heels. According to the genius, he wanted to get used to those shoes. Hah, as if Ryoma would believe him). The youngest regular had a strong suspicion that it was one of the steps in Fuji's scheme.

"From my two years of experience in tennis, I'd say she's a pretty girl! Let's go!!" Horio, the big mouthed freshman exclaimed and happily dragged his other two friends towards the unknowing _girl_.

"What does it have to do with his tennis experience anyway…?"

'Hey, pretty. I can…" Before Horio could finish his sentence, the _girl_ turned to glare at them fiercely.

"It's… it's Ryoma-kun/Echizen!!!" The trio shouted in unison, totally bewildered by these facts: A) Ryoma was in a well-fitting gown, B) He looked adorable in that gown, and C) His chest was not flat!

"These… these…" Horio pointed at his chest with a red face. Whether it was because of the shock or an embarrassment of calling an arrogant male 'pretty', no one knew.

Ryoma narrowed his eyes dangerously. "For your information, I am NOT wearing a b-bra. And if you would stop gapping like a fish, then you can go settle the backdrops." For once, Ryoma sounded so unlike his usual cocky self. Heck, he already lost whatever image he had from the moment he was forced to wear that frilly gown!

With the little amount of gracefulness he still had, Ryoma aimed his empty can, tossed it into a recycle bin and without a backward glance, turned to enter the hall once again. The stunned trio could only follow him silently, all the while with their mouths still opened wide. Of course, the moment they entered the hall, their jaws dropped when a huggable Eiji came into view. And it became worse when a casual looking Fuji appeared in high heels. Oh, such disturbing images.

Ryoma groaned whenever the scene replayed in his mind. He was embarrassed beyond words. Speaking of which, he really regretted agreeing to Fuji's informal invitation when he first thought only Tezuka was to be included in the sadist's victim list. Obviously, he was tricked. Hating himself for letting his guard down, Ryoma let his frustration out by hitting the tennis ball twice as hard. After his personal tennis practice, which was also considered as 'Self-Proclaimed Anger Management Time', he went back into his house to have a nice shower and dinner.

Afterwards, he found out that his beloved cat, Karupin, was missing ever since he came back from school that day. His cousin was beginning to sound worried because it was not the first time Karupin went missing all of a sudden. Sighing, Ryoma grabbed his jacket and went out to search for his pet. 'What a bad day,' he mused groggily.

The twelve-year-old was found sitting on a swing after hours of clueless search. 'Where are you now, Karupin?' Ryoma thought as his eyes surveyed every corner of the playground. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar tail. So, he rose and saw his Karupin crossing the road to chase after a blue butterfly. He was going to call his pet when he saw a bicycle was moving swiftly towards the oblivious cat.

"Karupin, move!" Knowing it would be too late for him to grab his cat, Ryoma could only shout at Karupin helplessly.

Everything happened too fast, if you asked Ryoma. It was just a few seconds ago his cat was going to be run over by a bicycle, but now his pet was engulfed by the warmness of a human. Someone had jumped in and grabbed Karupin. While the curious animal appeared to be unhurt, the savior was not. But Ryoma did not know since his eyes were trained on his pet all the time as he rushed to the place.

"Maa na, Echizen. You should have taken better care with Karupin ne," a smooth voice said. Only then Ryoma realized his cat's savior was none other than the one who caused his embarrassment and endless headaches – _Fuji Syusuke_.

Karupin licked Fuji's face in gratitude before jumping out from his arms into her master's. "Thank you," was the only thing he managed to mutter. After all, he was still annoyed at his senior, although he was feeling grateful to the older prodigy for saving his pet.

Fuji smiled at his junior and replied a soft 'welcome' as he moved into sitting position. Ryoma walked away only after Fuji told him he had a few scratches and that was all. Until the freshman was out of sight only Fuji's smile faded while his hand clutched tightly on his right ankle. He knew he needed immediate medical attention, since the bicycle had basically run over his ankle. It was fortunate for the young man because he balanced himself at the right moment and managed to escape a fall from his bike. But he still turned back to shout a few rude names at Fuji's sudden appearance without realizing he nearly injured an innocent animal.

'… Hope this isn't as bad as I fear,' the sandy haired boy thought while trying to stand up from his sitting position. He winced slightly at the throbbing pain on his ankle. Silently, he prayed he could endure the pain on the real presentation day, which was just two days away. Tennis practices would be resumed only after the principal's birthday celebration, as Tezuka announced. But of course, the captain promised them extremely tough practices would await them seeing how they were forced to delay tennis practices in order to focus on the drama.

Limping all the way to the nearest clinic, Fuji Syusuke, the well-known third year genius prayed his little incident earlier would not affect his important plan for the upcoming play.

"After all, I won't want all my efforts gone to waste na," he murmured to himself, allowing a small smile to escape his lips. "Ah, I'll be having so many collections soon," Fuji grinned, emitting an evil aura around him. Despite the fact he was in pain and was in a clinic waiting for his turn, Fuji looked like he was enjoying himself way too much.

"Fuji Syusuke-kun, it's your turn now," a young nurse called out, interrupting his fantasy of blackmailing his fellow members.

Two more days… and Fuji could finally get what he had wanted for _years_.

**: To be continued :**


	16. Interlude: Starting

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: No owner will write a fanfiction…

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, slight humor, suspense

Pairing: Implied Momoshiro and Ryoma

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), 1000 words.

An interlude… ehehe. Will upload a** special chapter of more than 4000 words** soon. Don't worry!

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story.

Please leave a review if you have any suggestion.

**: Ready… Go :**

Interlude - Starting

The big day had finally arrived. The Seigaku Tennis Boys Club members were all extremely busy doing last minute checking. Meanwhile, the regulars busied themselves with dressing up and a few of them had to wear make up, albeit a certain regular was quite unwilling to do so. Momoshiro, Kaidoh, Inui, Oishi, Kawamura and Tezuka were in an empty classroom for changing into their respective costumes, while the other _three_ – Fuji, Ryoma and Eiji – were in another empty classroom with Fuji Yumiko, the third year genius's beloved sister. Excited, she had volunteered to be the temporary makeup artist when her younger brother had told her about the play.

"Ne nee-san, Echizen looks adorable na," Fuji commented casually as he began changing into his maid outfit. It looked very worn out and there were patches here and there, but surprisingly when Fuji wore it, it did not seem to be as bad as how the others would look in it.

The oldest Fuji smiled brightly at the compliment. "I'd say you look_ equally_ cute, Syusuke," was the reply when Fuji had finally finished dressing by letting Yumiko tied up the knots behind the apron.

A mischievous smile was given in response. "Thank you, nee-san," then Fuji sat down gracefully on the chair in front of Yumiko for his makeup. In an instant, his sister began to start her job for the third time. This time she applied a more natural color to Fuji's cheeks since his skin was paler than the other two boys. Her younger brother was the last one to be made up among the three.

On the other hand, Eiji and Ryoma were staring at both siblings, with the former being curious and all hyper while the latter was nonchalant. Two days ago, Ryoma was still sulking over his role, but he was over it when he took a step into Seigaku that morning. It was tiring to sulk over such things for so long, and the twelve-year-old also knew that nothing could change his situation now. So, he would at least endure it for a few hours more, if not trying his best to make the play work.

Hah, the baby of their team had finally acted maturely for once. Though, that did not stop him from mumbling something incoherently about disgusting makeup (to which he earned a disapproving glare from Yumiko, whom seemed to have _perfect _hearing).

"Fujiko, is _he_ going to come?" Eiji's excited voice asked, knowing fully well that Fuji knew whom he meant. Nodding softly, Fuji flashed a smile and remained silent to prevent a disturbance to Yumiko. Then the hyper redhead turned his attention to Ryoma and suddenly hugged him tightly. "Nya! Ochibi is glomp-able!! Bet Momo will like you more!"

His words made Ryoma stumble when he broke free of his senior's firm grip. Cheeks reddening, Ryoma murmured something about stupid high heels and frilly dresses all the while ignoring the two identical chuckles coming from the other side of the room. Oh, and he totally blocked out Eiji's laughter too. After the acrobatic player had enough fill of laughter, he bounced towards the Fuji siblings. How he did that in high heels was beyond Ryoma, who had trouble walking in them for a good period of time.

By the time Eiji reached his best friend, Fuji Yumiko had left the room to continue her job for the other regulars after whispering something to the younger one. Then Fuji felt a pair of familiar arms surrounding his shoulders in a friendly manner. "Nya, things will work out, Fuji," he murmured into his friend's ears, as if assuring the other something very important. Immediately, Fuji's shoulders relaxed into the hug and he placed his right hand on top of Eiji's arm.

"Aa, thanks, Eiji," was the soft reply coming from the genius, whose brilliant sapphire eyes were wide opened not with menace but with gratitude. It was something only shared between the two best friends and them _only_.

"Alright then, let's get ready. Our turn is coming soon!" All of a sudden Eiji sprang away, exclaiming in an overly joyful tone that they should go backstage to wait for the others. Ryoma, who had been watching them in silence just now, trailed after his seniors to the backstage, his catlike eyes secretly locked onto Fuji's right leg. For a moment he thought he saw an almost non-existent limp, but it was gone when he blinked. Maybe he was just imagining it, Ryoma mused.

The journey to the backstage was an awkward one. Although only a fixed number of members were allowed to run around there, it was more than enough for Ryoma when each of them turned to gawk openly at them. He was used to the stares, but not the drools or things of that sort. Yes, he knew most of the drools and admiring looks were not directed towards him, instead they were directed to both third years.

After all, his redhead senior did look adorable in that Fairy Godmother outfit with a pair of pinkish, flashy wings attached behind his back as well as a halo on top of his head. As for his other senior? Well, you could say Fuji's fans were practically drooling in whatever outfit he wore – boys and girls alike. It was quite unnerving actually.

The three of them waited backstage for the cue to begin. Apparently, the others were on the other side of the stage and they were going to start the story with a classic opening speech and the ever so boring narration. His heart was pumping fast due to nervousness, as much as Ryoma hated to admit it. Out of the corner of his eyes, the twelve-year-old noted that his seniors were not at all bothered by the number of audience they were going to have, nor the fact they would forget their speeches in the middle of the play.

With a deep breath, Ryoma braced himself for _whatever_ that would happen.

: To be continued :


	17. Finally

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or Cinderella.

Rating: G or K

Genre: Drama, suspense

Pairing: Implied Tezuka and Fuji

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue), slight confusion.

I am terribly sorry to be MIA (missing-in-action) for so long. That's why I decided to write an exclusively long chapter with over 4000 words! Hope you guys enjoy it, though it might be boring with all the drama stuffs. From now on, the humor parts will be almost non-existing. It will be replaced with angst or other categories.

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story.

Please leave a review if you like the story.

**: Ready… Go :**

Chapter 13 - Finally

"Back in the olden days, there was a gorgeous girl named Fuji-ella," the narrator, whom happened to be Sakuno Ryuuzaki, paused in the narrating as if to let the audiences absorb the name wholly. She was trying her best not to fidget in the middle of her speeches, but she was really getting uncomfortable being surrounded by so many people and not to mention, a bunch of charming tennis regulars of their school team in their smart suits and… dazzling gowns.

Those who noticed the name squealed out loudly and cheered for the famous genius. "Oh my God!! Fuji-kun/chan/senpai, we love you!!" As for the outsiders, they merely raised an amused eyebrow. Some showed curiosity in the supposed celebrity in Seishun. Amongst all of them, a rich diva smirked knowingly.

Ignoring the desperate catcalls, Sakuno continued, "Her beauty was overwhelming in a way that no one could ever match it. Thus, her stepsister was green with jealousy and her stepsis… stepbrother!" She seriously hoped no one noticed her slip, but it seemed like Momoshiro was glaring quite intensely at her slip (for he was afraid that she would slip again and his role would become 'stepsister'… again. Oh his sisters would laugh at him till his death). Although they had practiced for numerous times, she still recited the wrong nouns some times.

"Her stepbrother did not like her much, since his precious sister always backstabs Fuji-ella and he loves his own sister very much." To that, Momoshiro shot a look at Ryoma, who just shrugged at the edited script (to fill in the gaps and holes since there had been several changes in the roles).

'He doesn't know how true the statement is…' thought the second year wistfully as he watched the first year trying to hide his catlike eyes behind his bangs. Apparently, Ryoma was very uneasy with the whole thing. His turn was near, after all.

When Momoshiro turned back to the stage, Sakuno were still reciting slowly and very carefully. "His stepfather was not pleased either, because ever since her mother passed away, Fuji-ella reminded him only of her real father and his wife's first husband," she resumed. "Hence, they used her like a maid."

"Fuji-ella, come here this instant!!" The curtains were pulled up, revealing a burning-mode-on Kawamura in his dark green shirt with a brownish green suit and a smart blue necktie. A walking stick, to which the size was similar to their tennis rackets' grips, was the best alternative to turn on the usually timid boy's other energetic side without bringing any suspicion to the audience.

The background showed a cardboard-made fireplace with the chimney, along with real a dining table and dining chairs at the corner of the stage. It was rather simple, but it was enough since the focus was snatched away by the ones who played the roles. Who cared much about the other details?

Then, a rather timid looking Fuji entered the stage with her hands carrying a laundry basket with his head bowed. "Yes, Father?" The hall erupted into cries again. He was wearing a worn-out grayish white apron and his hair was quite long.

"I never… never thought a guy could be so attractive…" Some boys blushed openly and drooled over Fuji's maid outfit while some tried to hide due to embarrassment of admiring the same gender in a way they would only do to the opposite gender.

"You are our only love, Fuji-sama!!"

"He's so pretty! I'd marry Fuji-kun!! Give up the prince and be with me!" Meanwhile, some girls and boys were so excited that they almost rushed onto the stage, if not for the teachers were sitting on the fronts to ensure _security_.

Wincing at the bold declaration, Ryoma stepped into the stage as well, stomping his feet physically and mentally vomiting over his own childish action. "She failed to sew back my lovely yellow gown you gave me, Father!" He was wearing a light green blouse and a dark blue long skirt. Like Fuji, he did not wear a wig. His fists were clenched on his long skirt and he was actually pouting.

Everyone else in the hall was silent for the moment. And then, Ryoma noticed several flashes that were directed at his way. 'Who the heck took pictures of me!' he screamed mentally. It was then several cries were heard.

"Is that Echizen?!" The boys were utterly shocked, since they would never think Ryoma would actually look like an innocent little damsel when in a striking gown. 'Well, he would make a rather tomboyish girl if he were to be born a girl,' Momoshiro smirked to himself from his location backstage.

"Ryoma-kun/chan!! Absolutely adorable! Oh my God!!"

Among the audience, the corner of Atobe's mouth turned upwards. It was funny to see how the usually arrogant first year had turned into a helpless _brat_. It was a plus to see him in makeup too. He was satisfied with Fuji's promise and gleeful that he had come to watch.

By now, the Seigaku regulars were debating whether they ought to continue with the drama, because the cries were getting extreme by the seconds and it was disturbing the flow of the play immensely. But they really could not stop things halfway, not when they had spent so much effort on it! And Fuji was going to enter his murderous mode if this caused his plan to fail after all that careful planning. Unfortunately, the teachers were not helping much; the female teachers were squealing while the males were… sitting there, either rather dumbfounded or just curious.

"I'm sorry, I'll sew it back immediately after I am done with the laundry," said Fuji's soft crystal clear voice, effectively silencing everyone once again. He opened his eyes for a brief moment and it was all it took to make the others shut up their big mouths for the rest of the play, _hopefully_.

Appreciating the peace, Momoshiro hastily stepped into the scene. He was in a black shirt and a shimmering silver coat with matching trousers; the black belt unfastened and left hanging on his coat, as well as an orange scarf around his neck. Both his hands were folded in front of his chest firmly in a defensive stance. "You had better finish the chores as soon as possible before Father and I return," he said, looking as murderous as he could in front of his third year senior.

Although they were in a play, it was rather disturbing for the powerhouse player to be disrespectful towards the well-known genius. He could almost felt the deadly aura among the Fuji fans down the stage. 'Eeeps… I don't want to die yet!' he mentally shivered.

However, the black aura was soon to be disappeared when a girl suddenly squealed in delight. "Ooooh! He has a sister-complex! Oh Kami-sama, incest is such a beautiful, sinful love!" Really, the minds of fan girls were _very_ terrifying indeed.

"But…" Sakuno was going to continue her narrating role but apparently, the voices, squeals and whatever else noises among the audience overpowered her soft voice. She tried again and yet again it was a failure. Finally, she raised her voice and almost shouted, "But!"

Since her raised voice failed yet again, the crew decided to release the curtains and black out the lights as Plan B. To their relief, it worked as they had hoped and so Sakuno resumed the story. "But Fuji-ella never complained. Not even once. She tried her best to follow her stepfamily's demands, for she was grateful that her stepfather still fed her and gave her shelter. The beautiful girl was never alone though, because she had her little friends accompanying her."

The curtains were raised once again, revealing Fuji alone with the birds. "I am so happy for your company, little birdies," Fuji said in a singsong voice while smiling at the bird on his left hand. The other birds were surrounding him like a magnet; flying around him and him alone.

"The birds are real!"

Yes, the birds were real. At first, the regulars were shocked when Inui had suggested such a crazy idea, but Fuji merely smiled wider and nodded in compliance. Initially, they thought it was going to be troublesome; after all, real birds were not easy to control. But when Fuji brought the birds in a cage and released them in practices, the birds were only drawn to the genius. When asked if he was the owner of those birds, Fuji shook his head with a sly smile.

On stage, Fuji hummed a song while holding the now-empty laundry basket. Then he put down the basket and swirled around the flying birds as if dancing with them. At the end, he stretched out his hands with a wide smile and the birds, as if on cue, flew from the stage to the end of the hall, soaring across the air and above the audience to outside. From the backstage, the tennis club members were shaking their heads in amusement. How did Fuji manage to turn such an act into a magnificent performance was beyond them. It was as if it was his solo performance.

"Oh little birdies, if only I could fly with such freedom," suddenly, Fuji's voice was heavy with emotion. Then he picked up the basket and went backstage. This time, Kawamura, Ryoma and Momoshiro entered the stage.

"Ryo-chan," Kawamura began. Ryoma was trying his best not to twitch his eyebrow in distaste and annoyance. No matter how many times he heard that affectionate nickname in practices, he still could not get over it completely. It just got into his nerves. "Burning! The Prince is going to hold a ball! All the ladies are invited to attend the ball for he is going to pick a wife! What a chance! Ryo-chan, with your looks, you will be the best candidate for sure! Oh my…" and Kawamura continued to ramble on.

Ryoma tuned his _father_'s excited voice out completely while Momoshiro just beamed at his supposed _sister_. Suddenly Fuji appeared back on the stage with his eyes wide open, full of hope. It was a weird sight to the other regulars, for they never really seen them open other than when Fuji was being sadistic. When Fuji was acting as Cinderella, he was really different from his usual self.

"Father… may… may I go too?" the genius's voice was timid, but it was clear enough for the audience to hear what he said.

Ryoma groaned, and gave a look at Momoshiro. Immediately, Momoshiro recited his line. "Oh, sure you can go. But what would you be wearing then? This outfit?" his own voice was dripped with venom as he taunted Fuji.

"You only have that worn out violet dress as the best gown you own. How pathetic. What would the prince say if he sees you in such disgraceful clothing?" Ryoma added, giving Fuji a contemptuous look, who had looked down on the floor at that point. "Father, say that she can't go! I don't want the prince to look down on our family by allowing her to go!"

"Ryo-chan is correct! Burning! You cannot go!" Kawamura said fiercely.

Fuji's eyes saddened, but they were still filled with hope. "If I am allowed to borrow a dress… may I go?"

This time, Ryoma glared. It was the best part of his script, he mused. He was allowed to glare at Fuji openly! "I am slimmer than you! You cannot fit into my dresses. And there would be no one who would let you borrow a dress." In actual fact, he was originally supposed to say 'smaller' instead of 'slimmer', but Ryoma would never admit his own size. It was like stepping on himself. Heck, he had had enough when he was underestimated in tennis due to his body size.

"Fuji-ella, you are not to think about going to the ball ever again," Kawamura snapped. And then, the three of them left a poor Fuji looking close to tears.

"Oh… I have never been to a ball… If only I have a decent dress…" he said to himself while looking at the old maid outfit he was wearing. Curtains fell over again and the lights went off immediately. The other members needed to be quick to set up the stage for another scene and Ryoma had to rush to change gowns too.

"Poor Fuji-ella was saddened by the rejection of her only request. She heard everybody talking about the ball for days, and she felt left out for not being to see the prince. Then, the day had finally come," Sakuno was narrating when the curtains were lowered.

When they were raised again, it revealed a garden. At one side, Fuji was tending the flowers alone, while Kawamura, Momoshiro and Ryoma were at the other side of the stage. Ryoma had changed into a nice gown which the upper part was light-purplish, the lower part was sky-blue and ended with fluffy white fur. It was complete with a red ribbon tied around his waist.

The audience squealed once again in delight when they saw Ryoma in another cute dress. This really was getting onto his nerves. "Father, when are we going?" he asked impatiently. In reality, he was hoping to end this play as soon as possible.

"Oh Ryo-chan, you look lovely! Surely the prince would choose you," Momoshiro said before Kawamura's turn to speak.

Then their senior said in his excited voice, "C'mon baby! Let's go to the ball and win the prince's heart!" So, the three of them disappeared backstage once again with Fuji staring longingly at their departure. His sapphire eyes were opened wide and they were full of unshed tears. Fuji used a hand to wipe off his tears when one of them rolled down from the corner of his left eye.

By then, the tears began to fall increasingly even as he continued his effort to wipe them away. Down in the audience, they were amazed by Fuji's acting ability. They could feel that he was completely in control of his emotions. It was as if he really was Cinderella (of course they did not mean the gender). Silence filled the hall as they watched Fuji intensely.

Fuji continued to weep uncontrollably and he used both hands to cover his face, not bothering to stop the flow of tears anymore. "Oh, Fairy Godmother! If only you could grant me a wish."

Suddenly, Eiji flew into the scene with a string on his back to help with his flying stunt. He was wearing a gown which had lots of ribbon towards the end of the dress and a pair of pinkish translucent wings attached to his back. Again, the hall erupted into excited voices, only this time, it was softer than during Ryoma's and Fuji's appearances.

"Hoi hoi!" They tried to stop him from saying those meaningless words, but Eiji really could be a pain when he was stubborn. "Worry not, my child! I can help you to go to the ball!" He landed on the floor and used his left hand to wipe Fuji's tears away when the brunette looked up. Fuji's face lightened up immediately. "See, child. You look much more beautiful when you are not crying," Eiji gave a smile.

"Oh, you're the Fairy Godmother! Can you really grant me this wish?" Fuji said, looking troubled for a moment. It was then when Eiji gave a flick of his right hand, which was holding a wand. A small pumpkin, which was on the background all the time, disappeared in a puff of smoke and a giant carriage appeared. A fake snake also disappeared and Kaidoh stepped out from the smoke in his green costume. Several members dressed as horses lined in front of the carriage.

Normally, Kaidoh was polite to his seniors and to whomever he respected though his face was a little scary in his classmates' eyes. To see him in any other outfit other than his school uniform, his tennis outfit or his usual singlet when he was jogging was refreshing. At that moment, Kaidoh looked smart. Inui's specs glowed knowingly as his hand continued to write down all the data into his notebook.

Fuji watched as Kaidoh walked to the carriage and opened the door, awaiting him to step into it. Then, he turned to Eiji. "But, how am I going to go without a decent dress?" he looked down as his own maid outfit, looking like a lost kitten.

Eiji grinned happily. "I will not let you go in this, of course!" Then, he flicked again and smoke appeared around Fuji. Some members rushed into the stage holding several huge cardboards and shielded Fuji as he changed in privacy. When the smoke cleared, Fuji was standing there in a pink and red gown. The gown itself was elegant and dazzling. A pair of small blue translucent wings was attached on Fuji's back.

Everyone gasped, either surprised or awed. This was the first time they had ever seen Fuji in his second costume. Not even the regulars or those who were involved directly in the acting had seen it before. Fuji made quite an effort to keep it from everyone. And he was happy with the outcome when he noticed a pair of hazel eyes focused on him at that moment. 'As much as I hate to act like a girl… if this is what I can do to make him notice me, I'm willing to sacrifice my pride,' he thought silently.

Deciding not to indulge in his own thoughts and go back to his acting, Fuji looked at himself in surprise. "This is… beautiful!" he exclaimed while holding his gown in delight. Then he launched himself to hug Eiji. The audience smiled. It looked so sweet since Fuji was actually glowing and hugging Eiji happily.

"Nya! Yes, indeed it suits you well! Oh, child, now you are able to go to this ball looking perfect and your step-family won't be able to recognize you. Off now you go! Hoi! Hoi!" Eiji gave Fuji a gentle push towards where Kaidoh awaited. "But remember, this spell wears off at 12 midnight! Nya, if I could make it everlasting, I would."

Fuji's eyes lost its glow for a moment before they shone again. "It's still a chance. Thank you so much, Fairy Godmother!" With that, he stepped into the carriage and Kaidoh made a signal. Then, the _horses_ pulled the carriage away from the audience's view.

The curtains fell and the members rushed to set up another setting. This time it changed into a background of a ballroom fit for royal families. "With that, Fuji-ella rushed to the castle, wishing to see the Prince. Even if it was just a glance from far," Sakuno's voice was back for narration. Secretly, she was glad she did not have to do much narrating. Inui and Oishi decided to cut down the time and made quite a number of changes to the script.

When the curtains were lifted, Ryoma and his _family_ were already there. Oishi, in his black and yellow royal outfit, was looking around for his _child_. "Now, where is the Prince?" he asked one of his personal guards. One second later, Tezuka stepped onto the stage, drawing everyone's attention in his glorious red and yellow outfit. The girls squealed and some fainted due to over-excitement to see such a charming Tezuka. The guys only could raise their eyebrows or shake their heads in defeat.

All the actresses (they had to ask some members from the girls' tennis club to help) did not bother to hide their blushes. No matter how many times they saw Tezuka in his Prince outfit, they still could not deny that he was truly handsome. This time, Fuji smirked. He knew he had gotten it right to design such a costume for Tezuka. It fitted the stoic captain perfectly. 'Thanks to Atobe's help,' the genius thought to himself.

"By the time Fuji-ella reached the castle, all the girls had already been introduced to Prince Tezuka," Sakuno said to the microphone as Fuji stepped out from the carriage with the help of Kaidoh. The poor junior was blushing to see his respected senior in a gown and he was holding Fuji's hand to top it all off. Fuji softly chuckled to himself to see Kaidoh's discomfort. Sometimes, the younger one could be so adorable and easily embarrassed too. No wonder Inui seemed to take a liking to him…

"The guards were too dazed by her beauty that they allowed her in, without stopping her for appearing without an invitation," Sakuno continued, glancing towards the stage where now all the girls on stage were chattering with some guys or looking at Tezuka. The _Prince_ seemed to be bored. Actually, Tezuka was emotionless most of the time anyway…

But when Fuji stepped into the centre of the stage, Tezuka stopped looking emotionless. He tried his best to be shocked and awed by the beauty of _Fuji-ella_ as stated in the script. All the girls on stage turned to look at Fuji and whispered among themselves. Ryoma and his _family_ appeared to be stunned as well. Tezuka hurried to Fuji and without a word, offering a hand to be taken. Flashing a pretty smile, Fuji took the hand and followed Tezuka's lead. They exchanged no words as Tezuka put a hand on Fuji's waist and took another hand in his own. Meanwhile, Fuji put his free hand on Tezuka's shoulder.

"I wish I could be Cinderella!" They heard some girls below the stage exclaimed dreamily.

Soft romantic music began to play and a spotlight fell over the _Prince_ and _Fuji-ella _as they began to dance. It was a shock when the regulars found out that Tezuka could dance pretty well. When Inui tried to dig for information as to why and how the captain knew how to dance, he was promptly warned not to ask for that again in a strict manner. Nobody would know how Tezuka learnt (or maybe forced to learn) how to dance, but they would rather keep away from the captain's death glare than to ask.

Fuji looked at Tezuka as they danced. He could see that Tezuka was trying to keep his stoic face when looking at him in the eyes. Fuji himself admitted that he looked attractive, for a cross-dressing male since he was slim and all. Yes, he really had his pride thrown aside this time, but it was all because…

"Prince Tezuka kept on dancing with Fuji-ella and did not allow the other males to ask her for a dance. Time passed too fast in their eyes and it was already midnight," Sakuno's voice came back to narrating, successfully snapping Fuji out of his thoughts. A bell chiming was heard, following Sakuno's narration.

Hurriedly, Fuji broke off eye contact with Tezuka as he pulled his dress. "Oh no! It's late, I have to go now!" he exclaimed.

"Wait, what's your name?" Ignoring Tezuka's words, Fuji already ran away. "Guards!!" Tezuka tried to give a chase, but he was surrounded by girls and Fuji successfully ran towards the backstage. The lights were off for a few seconds, and when they were turned on again, the stage was cleared of all the girls and Tezuka. Fuji appeared to be running towards the centre of the stage before he fell down with a thud. The hall was silence, paying full attention to his acting.

"Ouch," Eiji's voice was heard from the backstage when he saw how Fuji fell onto the ground with force. "It's a wonder how Fujiko can act so well…" he said to the others and they nodded firmly.

Fuji grimaced as his right hand went towards his leg. His shoe was a few feet away. Before he could grab it, Inui made his appearance as the royal guard in another charming outfit. "Wait!" Seeing Inui on his tail, Fuji stood up quickly and fled towards where Kaidoh was standing. Entering the carriage in haste, they disappeared towards the backstage, leaving Inui to pick up the shoe.

Tezuka entered into the scene again and he took the shoe from Inui with a curt nod. "I shall find the owner of this shoe," was all he said before the curtains fell.

"And so Prince Tezuka went to search every house to look for the owner of the shoe. All the girls feet did not fit the shoe. By the time the Prince reached where Fuji-ella lived, she was standing at a corner nervously and wondering if the Prince would ever recognize her in her worn out maid clothes," Sakuno recited. Then the curtains were drawn, back to the first scene in the house.

"The shoe is mine," Ryoma muttered stubbornly as he tried to adjust the shoe into his foot. But the poor shoe was too big in size and Ryoma's foot was not big enough to fit. Kawamura and Momoshiro were trying to do something, _anything_, to make the shoe fit, but it was really useless. "Who asked you not to drink milk often," Momoshiro muttered and Ryoma blushed out of annoyance.

It was then Inui noticed Fuji, and he went there with the shoe. "Perhaps you could try," he said as he gestured _Fuji-ella_ to sit on the chair.

When Momoshiro heard that, he laughed. "Oh, that poor girl couldn't be the gorgeous girl in the ball! She doesn't have the money to afford such a glamorous dress!" Ryoma and Kawamura smirked in satisfaction.

But Fuji did not seem to hear their taunting. He sat on the chair provided gracefully and easily wore the shoe. Then he took out the other, causing three jaws to drop. Tezuka immediately went to Fuji and held his hands. "So you are _her_," he said, trying to sound happy. But everyone knew the best Tezuka could do was to sound determined or confident instead of happy. Tezuka Kunimitsu never sounded happy. To the tennis club members, it would be creepy to hear their captain sounding joyful or smile serenely.

Of course, Fuji could smile happily perfectly fine. "Yes, my Prince…" When Fuji stood up, he suddenly tripped and fell towards Tezuka, who could not simply evade. Before those two could comprehend what was happening, everyone around was frozen. Until the moment Fuji realized what just took place, his sapphire eyes widened in shock. 'Oh shit…' was all he could think of, at that tender moment.

What could be possibly worse? If only _he_ knew…

: To be continued :


	18. Agony

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or Cinderella.

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Drama, suspense, angst, hurt

Pairing: Implied one-sided Tezuka and Fuji

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue).

Wow, thanks for the faves and reviews!

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story.

Please leave a review if you like the story.

**: Ready… Go :**

Chapter 14 - Agony

Silence. The entire hall was stunned. The incident that took place just a few seconds ago was too unexpected. Even Fuji's sapphire eyes snapped open in pure shock, while Tezuka merely clenched his fists in silent anger. A whole minute passed in silence… until a girl squealed in delight.

"OH Kami-sama! They look so perfecttttttttt together!!" And the hall erupted into excited noises, fan-girl squeals, murmurs of disappointments, and gasps. But to the tennis club members on the stage, they were still stunned and oblivious to their surrounding. Eevery pair of eyes focused on their captain and Fuji, waiting for their reaction.

It was Fuji who reacted first. "Tezuka…"

As if on cue, everyone regained their senses and Momoshiro did the right thing; he pulled off the curtains immediately. Inui grabbed the microphone from Sakuno, who was shocked stiff and she had lost her ability to speak. "And so, Prince Tezuka lived happily ever after with Fuji-ella," the data collector recited the ending in haste. Somehow, nothing else mattered at that moment except for the unfolding _drama backstage_.

"20 laps around the courts, Fuji," came Tezuka's stern voice. He glared at the genius. Fuji felt it pierce his heart when he saw those cold eyes.

Fuji tried to explain. "Tezuka, I…"

But the captain cut him off mercilessly. "30 laps."

"But, Te…"

"50 laps."

Fuji realized Tezuka was furious, and he would not be able to explain in front of everyone. Turning around, he pulled off the high heels and walked backstage. Everyone dared not utter a word. Until Fuji disappeared from view, only Oishi dared to speak. "Tezuka, it might really be an accident this time," he said in a hesitant voice.

Tezuka just gave his vice-captain a look that said 'do you believe it?' Yes, every member knew how cunning Fuji could be. Even Inui would bet that Fuji pulled the stunt instead of being an accident. Nobody on the stage could convince themselves that the genius was innocent. Not when Fuji already tried a similar trick during practice.

"Clean up," was Tezuka's next command. All the members hurried off the clean up the stage, totally forgetting that supposedly the ones in charge were Inui and Oishi. Even those two had nothing else to say except to comply with their captain's command. It was best not to go against Tezuka, especially when he was obviously angered.

Tezuka heard the teachers' commands to hush the students and get them out of the hall. As the head of Student Committee, Tezuka knew he was supposedly in charge of the commotion had he not been involved in the stage play. But right now, he just wanted a moment to collect himself. Definitely, he would be required to give an explanation for the stunt Fuji pulled just a moment ago. Tezuka rubbed his temples in frustration. At that moment, even the strongest anti-relief medicine could not relieve his headache.

"Oishi, I'll leave the rest to you," was all he said before he went to the changing room and quickly changed out from his Prince outfit to a set of casual clothes. Right now, he had to take care of other matters before it worsened. 'As if it wasn't bad enough', Tezuka mused.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Fuji could not stand to change in the changing room. He grabbed his bag and disappeared down a corridor. He just wanted to get away from all the suspicious stares. Deep inside, he knew nobody would have believed him. He hastened his pace towards an empty classroom, despite the pain on his ankle. Once he entered the room, he locked it and leaned heavily on the doorframe with his head hung. His front hair covered his face. A broken smile was plastered on his feminine face.

Many thoughts were flying through his mind at that moment. But he could not comprehend them. He could only register the pain in his heart. The feeling of being stabbed and bleeding overwhelmed his entire being. Tezuka's cold hazel eyes were directed at _him_. So cold, so furious. There was nothing could be done to reverse what he did. But Fuji really did not regret it. Yes, he knew what he did was wrong. Yet, it was _really_ an accident. Could he be blamed for something he never intended? Okay, he might have pulled a similar trick in the practice before, but there were two different situations. Even he dared not embarrass Tezuka like that in front of so many people.

Fuji opened his eyelids. He stared at his injured ankle. Why, must it be such a coincidence that he_ tripped _and _kissed _Tezuka in the middle of the play? Why couldn't he endure the pain for a little while more? The genius closed his eyes and frowned. "Saa… nothing can be done. Why not continue the 'play' then?" he muttered, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth after saying it.

The sandy-haired boy changed back to his casual clothes, which consisted of a white t-shirt and a pair of long pants. Then he proceeded to take off any accessories on his hair and body. He took out his tennis shoes and wore them while wincing slightly at the pain in his ankle. Next, he took a bottle of water and splashed his face before grabbing a towel to wipe his face clean of make up. He folded the costume and put it into another paper bag. "50 laps… huh," Fuji flashed a sad smile.

And he left the room in silence without any trace. He had 50 laps to run. He had already run out of painkillers before the performance. For once, Fuji doubted whether he could fulfill such a simple command from Tezuka. Silently, Fuji headed towards the tennis court while trying his best to ignore the pain in his ankle. Once he reached the courts, he put down his bags. A brief warm up was done and he was ready.

'1… 2… 3, go.' At first, the sting was still bearable. As time went by, Fuji began to sweat profusely. His palms had cold sweat on them. The pain on his ankle worsened. It was until the 5th round that Fuji found himself could not continue any further and collapsed on the ground wearily. He stared at his injured ankle. The skin was becoming redder and it was swollen much. "Maa… there is no good in continuing eh? At this rate, I won't be able to help the club," he murmured and winced in pain as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Fuji's sapphire eyes surveyed the school compound. 'Tezuka should be trying to settle the mess I made, eh…' Looking back at his ankle, Fuji sighed when he realized he totally ignored the doctor's advice. Hopefully it would not be as bad as it looked, Fuji mentally said to himself. Being a tennis player, he expected pain since every sport would involve injury. When Kirihara from Rikkai Dai explicitly assaulted him with the tennis ball back then, Fuji learnt the hard way of being a tennis player. He did not say he regretted in joining the tennis team of course. Being a genius, he believed he could handle anything.

Yet, now he fully understood there was something even a genius could not handle. Tezuka was one thing. Being helpless was second. Looking across the tennis courts for a split second, his sapphire eyes saddened when he thought of how Tezuka would react tomorrow. But, he was determined to say something to the stoic captain later. At least a sorry, although it was not his intention originally… he felt he owed the captain an apology for the trouble he unintentionally caused.

As seconds ticked by, Fuji just sat there and for the first time in his real, he truly felt what it meant to be in solitude. He was all alone in the tennis courts and there was nobody coming or passing by. The audience had probably left already and the students in charge might be too busy. The tennis courts were located at the other side of the campus, so it was impossible for anyone to go through there unless it was necessary.

However, he had a definite feeling that Tezuka would come. Since the captain assigned him laps, he would come to check on the cactus lover or perhaps demand for an explanation. So now Fuji could only wait till Tezuka's arrival. Letting out a small sigh, Fuji thought of how his plan was backfired terribly. His efforts of going through the troubles to blackmail the others, designing the costumes, asking Atobe for help (more like striking a win-win deal)… and every single thing was ruined because of a moment of carelessness. And to think it was all because his ankle chose the perfect moment to be throbbing and lost momentum…

The sound of footsteps snapped Fuji out of his thoughts immediately as he became aware of his surrounding once again. Little did he know he was sitting on the court for a long time already. Sapphire eyes snapped open, looking for the target. The footsteps halted for a few seconds as if debating on something. Then Tezuka emerged from the shadows created by the buildings. The stoic captain looked at Fuji, who was still sitting on the ground.

Cold hazel eyes were staring at him. "You have not finished the laps," was what the bespectacled boy said.

Fuji remembered the bitter taste in his mouth after trying to tell himself to go along with the flow and to keep silent about his injury was the cause of all the troubles. Suddenly, he wanted to change his mind. He really hated to look at such a cold Tezuka. It was as if he wanted to cease all relationship he had with Fuji. He realized, anyone else could have misunderstood him, and Fuji wouldn't have minded it. 'Anyone, but not Tezuka'. He did not want to lose Tezuka. He did not want Tezuka to hate him.

The genius tried to open his mouth to tell the truth, but instead of the explaining, all he said was 'Sorry, Tezuka'. After the tender moment, Fuji found words failed him. Shocked by his own unusual inability, he snapped open his sapphire eyes.

If Tezuka saw his expression, he remained nonchalant. "Add another ten more laps for not completing your punishment," Tezuka commanded as he turned around to leave, not giving Fuji another chance to say anything else.

Finally regaining a bit of his control, Fuji tried to stop Tezuka from leaving. "Wait, Tezuka. I apologise for just now, the incident on the stage. And I apologise for not completing the laps but…" Fuji babbled but the captain was already taking a few steps ahead. Seeing Tezuka was not going to listen to him, Fuji forced himself to stand in haste. He ignored the pain on his ankle and took a few unsteady steps towards the walking figure. "You won't listen to me, will you?" At that moment, hope was lost.

Those soft words stopped Tezuka from walking. "What do you expect from me, Fuji? I am not a puppet to be controlled by a string. You crossed the boundary this time!"

Cold sweat soaked Fuji's shirt as the pain became immense. The pain was unbearable till he had to collapse back on the ground. "You won't believe me," he said in a very soft voice, almost unheard. The thought of Tezuka not forgiving him was too much. The stoic captain did not even want to listen to his explanation. How badly it hurt… the pain was worse than his injury.

His elder sister's words echoed inside his mind. He had always put his trust in his sister's tarot card reading. When she said it would be fine, her words gave him confidence and assurance… but looking at Tezuka's retreating figure, Fuji doubted them somehow. After all, Tezuka also defied Inui's data at times. Or could it be fate was toying with Fuji?

**: To be continued :**


	19. Confrontation

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or Cinderella.

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Drama, suspense, angst, hurt

Pairing: Implied one-sided Tezuka and Fuji

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue).

I know it has been 2 years since my last update. I deleted so many versions of this chapter… I am stuck and I am not happy with the way the story flows of my earliest versions. To my readers who are waiting for this chapter... I hope you guys are not disappointed. Thanks.

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story.

Please leave a review if you like the story.

**: Ready… Go :**

Chapter 15 - Confrontation

"Fuji-kun! Gosh, what happened to you this time?" A nurse barely managed to control her exclamation upon seeing a very pale Fuji being carried in a pair of strong arms. But Fuji just gave her a weak smile as his childhood friend carried him into the doctor's examination room. A middle-aged doctor with a name tag 'Hinomoto' looked up as he signed a document. Then he quickly went to examine Fuji after he was placed on the bed.

Upon completion of the examination, he frowned disapprovingly at his patient. "Fuji-kun, you disobeyed me again," he scolded in a gentle tone. "Now you've managed to make it worse?" he asked, though that remark sounded more like a statement.

"I got careless, doctor," Fuji said with a sheepish smile albeit he was still as pale as the moment he was brought in. "Tripped on the stage," he added, looking remorseful at having to recall that particular memory. He left out the fact he overlooked all his instructions on not straining his ankle. If he were to tell the doctor that he had been hiding his injury from everyone by attending tennis practices as usual, wearing high heels in rehearsals and the stage play, tripped while still wearing high heels, attempted to run laps afterwards, fought against being carried in Koujirou's arms… he would have gotten a heck round of scolding for sure.

"Surely it isn't that simple," the doctor replied simply, but didn't sound accusing. To that, Fuji wisely kept silence. "Now shouldn't you take care of your health first before everything else? A strained ankle, especially when you have aggravated it, takes weeks to heal. In your case now, we will have to put a cast on your ankle instead of a normal bandage. I will issue you a medical certificate. Get a week's rest at home and you're prohibited from any activity that requires physical movement."

Then Fuji blanked out the rest of the doctor's words. He was extremely troubled by his own predicament. How was he going to break the news to the team? He had risked the team's chances of winning in the tournament by aggravating his injury, after all. Tezuka would be mad at him… Heck, who was he trying to fool? Tezuka was already looking enraged enough by the incident on the stage…

Anyway, the next thing he knew, the doctor was done and he was allowed to leave. "Look I don't need anybody to carry me," Fuji protested when his friend approached him. But when he stood up, he immediately winced and fell back to his chair. The doctor seemed to watch his struggle in amusement. Really, what kind of doctor enjoyed seeing the patient in pain? But then again, the doctor might just be as sadistic as Fuji was.

"Just this once, Syusuke," Koujirou said as he crouched in front of his long-time friend. "On my back this time," he offered while chuckling at Fuji's obvious discomfort at the thought of being carried bridal style. Eventually Fuji gave in when he noticed his childhood's friend's effort in trying to minimise his embarrassment.

"I swear Koujirou, you're enjoying this," Fuji muttered as they went out from the clinic, leaving a trail of squealing nurses and excited whispers from crazed gay-fangirls.

To his horror, the Rokkaku player said "Yes, yes my princess" and earned a knock on his head though it did nothing to stop his laughter. "Hey, you're the one who made your injury worse."

Unbeknownst to them, a certain Seigaku captain was watching the exchange between the two close friends with astonishment. Then, out of a sudden, he was filled with adrenaline and found himself rushing towards them. "Fuji," Tezuka said in a crystal clear voice that demanded immediate attention. Fuji's closed eyelids snapped open in shock before he closed them, as if wanting to shield the pain that flashed across his sapphire eyes.

Saeki Koujirou, Tezuka still remembered the vice captain. His hazel eyes met the other's for a moment. As if on cue, he walked towards a bench in a park nearby and gently set Fuji down. Of course, Fuji's protests were ignored, to which the genius seemed to glare at his childhood friend disapprovingly. "I'll tell you this, Tezuka-san. Perhaps you should put more trust in Syusuke," he whispered to Tezuka's ears when he passed the captain. "He's like a child, really." Then he disappeared with a wink to Fuji, who looked betrayed.

When Tezuka approached him, Fuji made an attempt to stand. Now he seemed like he didn't bother to let Tezuka witness his weakness. Instead, he looked like he was trying to get away from him as soon as possible. Needless to say, he wouldn't let Fuji go without a direct confrontation. As sneaky as Fuji might be, this time Tezuka had the advantage of not letting the sandy-haired boy escape.

He caught hold of Fuji's thin wrist effortlessly but the latter yanked his arm away. Then he frowned and swayed to his right before Tezuka managed to grab hold of him to prevent the fall. Instantly, he noticed Fuji was trembling… that was not supposed to be due to cold nor fright. Pain would be most likely it, the captain deduced.

"Why are you here," Fuji's soft voice said with a slight tone of resignation and weariness after the captain released his hold.

"That is what I want to know," Tezuka countered, glancing briefly at the cast on his ankle then to the bench. Taking it as an invitation to sit, Fuji sat down tentatively. "Is this why you couldn't complete the laps?" Suddenly remembering how broken Fuji looked and how he cut his friend's explanation short just a few hours ago, Tezuka frowned.

"You already knew what you want to know," was the only reply he got. Dissatisfied, Tezuka towered over his friend.

"You have a knack for hiding," he pressed while his brain recalled the words exchanged between the Rokkaku player and Fuji. "Which one is the real you?" he asked, frowning deeper when the words escaped his lips. He was furious when Fuji pranked him in front of the whole school, families and everyone else. Not to mention, that was his first kiss… Scratch that, Fuji owed him an explanation this time! Many questions crossed his mind.

"I've been me all this while." No, an evasive answer wasn't going to be acceptable.

"No you haven't. When did you hurt yourself? I'm the captain. You ought to inform me when you're not in the right state for tournament." Now it left a bitter taste in his mouth. His words were downright harsh and it sounded as if he only cared for his team's victory. Of course, he was selfish in pressing the truth out of the sandy haired boy when the latter obviously didn't want to fulfil his curiosity.

For a moment, there was a pregnant silence before Fuji's icy cold voice said, "Alright. I'll quit the tennis team from now on. I don't owe you any explanation. I apologise for the inconvenience I caused to the tennis team."

"Fuji! Just why are you refusing to tell me anything?" Tezuka's voice raised a notch. Annoyance was evident in his tone, and he let it show. How could Fuji dismiss his regular spot as if it valued nothing to him? How could Fuji act like everything was fine? Swirls of emotions caught in his heart.

Just when he thought Fuji wasn't going to give a response, Tezuka heard a barely audible answer. "The same reason you refused to listen…"

For some reasons, the reply diffused his annoyance. Fuji… Fuji was an enigma. He understood Tezuka well, one of a few friends he truly valued. Yet, the genius was too mischievous for his own good. Tezuka failed to understand his friend. Unlike Fuji, he didn't possess the skill to see through everyone… especially someone as complicated as him.

"Saa… I did apologise. I think it's enough," Fuji said, since Tezuka pretended that he didn't hear his friend's reply just a few seconds ago.

A sudden thought crossed his mind. Saeki asked him to believe in Fuji more. Fuji's broken voice came back to him at the same time. 'You won't believe me', the genius said and at that moment, Tezuka really didn't. Was it because of his anger that caused the other to shut himself off from him? Tezuka couldn't help but to compare him to an injured kitten… one that would definitely run and hide when hurt. And he could only see it now. Fuji was hurt. But so was he. He felt betrayed. Who wouldn't? Considering how your best friend kissed you in front of everyone? How your best friend hid things from you and quit the tennis club in order to hide further?

"An apology won't take back what you did. An explanation might serve justice." At that, Tezuka turned to look at Fuji, just in time to see his creased eyebrows. Then he put his arms on Fuji's shoulder and shook him slightly as if to press his point.

It was a pregnant pause before the sandy-haired player opened his eyes slowly… "I merely wanted your attention, Tezuka."


	20. Promise

**The Prince of Tennis Play**

Disclaimer: I don't own Prince of Tennis or Cinderella. I just twist them around. :P

Rating: PG or K+

Genre: Drama, suspense, humour, gender bender.

Pairing: Implied Tezuka and Fuji

Warnings or notes: OOC-ness, implied gender-bender, grammar and other errors (English is not my mother tongue).

Finally! Gosh, I do hope I didn't lose my sense of humour that much. This chapter contains a special character's appearance. Originally not in my draft. Haha. But I think it's kinda nice to have him again in the last chapter. So hope you all like it.

Thanks to Carzla for editing my story.

Please leave a review if you have any opinion.

**: Ready… Go :**

Chapter 16 - Promise

Fuji knew he couldn't keep everything bottled up. Here Tezuka was, looking as if he was willing to give Fuji a chance to explain himself. It was the last chance he had to mend their friendship, right? But for some reasons, Fuji felt that if he told Tezuka everything, it would be forever gone.

But Tezuka was so insistent. And he was really exhausted at how things turned out to be.

"I merely wanted your attention, Tezuka," he found himself saying softly. And Tezuka's hazel eyes were piercing silently. "Your whole attention. Not towards the tennis genius Fuji Syusuke, not towards Echizen," Fuji managed a humourless chuckle at the mention of the youngest regular. "Solely me."

If Tezuka was disgusted, he didn't give any sign. He was still silent, for some reason, it was comforting to Fuji. "It seems that I succeed, even if it caused your anger," he said and his words stopped there.

Tezuka's next words were surprisingly soft. "What of your injury?" he inquired, still unwilling to forget about that little fact. Perhaps he was thinking about his sudden announcement to quit the tennis team when it was so near to the tournament.

"It was sprained… for quite some time," Fuji replied tersely. Now that he had come clean about everything, would he earn Tezuka's forgiveness? Or would it be worse than ever? Too many emotions caught up to him and he really began to feel dizzy. The weariness of the stage performance, the constant sting of his injury, the pain of Tezuka's cold glare just a few hours ago, the shock of Tezuka's appearance, the horror of being found out, the tension between Tezuka and him, the awkwardness of everything else… It seemed too much for even a genius like him.

Fuji reckoned closing his eyes for real might be the best idea of all right now. Plus, Tezuka might not notice; after all, he had his eyelids closed most of the time. Yes, really… the blackness was so tempting…

"Fuji!" was the last thing he heard as he drifted into unconsciousness.

Many things unfolded after Fuji fainted (it was funny how clichéd the drama had unfolded, Fuji mused). Of course, he had gone through a great deal being interrogated by the Seigaku Boys Tennis Club and other friends who were well informed of his condition. While the misunderstanding was thankfully cleared, Fuji's decision to quit the team did not change in the slightest despite the protests from all his friends. Since it was their final tournament, Fuji's ankle would not heal in time. Moreover, he hoped Inui (who became their manager at that time) would have the chance to play. Admitting awe to Inui's numerous efforts in providing best trainings and data collecting, Fuji felt Inui deserved the place more than him.

Somehow, in the end, everyone forgave Fuji for not informing them of his injury. Some of them even showed guilt for not believing the genius on the unintentional kissing scene. Inui, however, was still scribbling madly, muttering percentages of Fuji taking advantage of his own injury to create chaos. Amused, Fuji chose not to comment and just grinned at his friend's antics. It served to keep his mischievous and sadistic reputation, after all.

What about his relationship with the captain? Tezuka returned to being his usual poker-faced self, not saying more than necessary and only focused on tennis (as well as his studies). The bespectacled boy didn't mention anything of the confrontation in front of anyone and they didn't have time to interact alone with each other afterwards. If Fuji didn't know better, he would have thought Tezuka was avoiding him.

It was finally the tournament's last day. Everyone was anxious about their upcoming battle in the final. Would they be able to grab the trophy and Champion title?

Sapphire blue eyes swept across the entire area before they fell on Seigaku and then the eyelids shielded those eyes from the public. Fuji Syusuke stepped into the stadium to watch the most anticipated match although none of his friends knew. Actually, he did attend as a spectator of the tournament ever since it started. It was just he didn't inform anyone about it even when they asked. Recently, they were too occupied with tennis practices that they didn't manage to bug him about it. To top it all, he didn't visit the tennis club anymore so the times they would see him were reduced.

"I guess they're doing well ne," he muttered to himself when he saw Eiji hugging Momoshiro. Then Oishi was saying something and they all nodded vigorously. "Guess he asked them not to fail the team," Fuji said with a small smile.

Then announcement to begin the tournament was made. The intense matches took hours to finish and the final match to decide championship was in Tezuka's hands. Someone pushed a racket into Kawamura's hands, asking him to cheer. And then he suddenly grabbed something out of his bag and shouted 'Burning' at the top of his lungs.

To everyone's surprise, it was an A4-sized photo of Fuji himself. Fuji couldn't stop himself when his chuckle turned into full fledged laughter. It was too hilarious!

All of a sudden, he felt a vibration on his left thigh. He fished out his mobile and answered the call without looking at the caller's name on the screen. A deep voice greeted him.

"We know you're here. I know you're watching this. This," a pause. "Is for you," and the call ended before Fuji could respond. Seigaku was cheering in high spirits in the background.

Sapphire eyes snapped open, looking for the owner of that deep voice and they met with hazel. Just a blink and Tezuka was already heading towards the court. 'Was it my imagination?' Fuji thought.

**What he didn't know was….**

"Nya! This is the first time Fujiko is not with us." Eiji whined, pouting as he tackled a random guy into a hug, which happened to be Momoshiro. "I miss him being here with us!"

"We will have to win on his behalf," Oishi interjected quickly, trying to keep the team's spirit high. Everyone else nodded, except Echizen and Tezuka of course. The younger pillar merely smirked and said his famous 'Mada mada da ne' while the older pillar did not give any sort of affirmation.

When it was time for their captain's match, a racket was pushed into Kawamura's hands. It was then his spirit went high and he shouted 'Burning' at the top of his lungs. He even went as far as to dig into his bag and pull out an A4 sized photograph of their genius player. It was crumpled but Fuji's smile was still bright.

"Hoi Taka-san, great job!" Eiji exclaimed happily while grabbing for Fuji's photo. "Now he's with us until the end!"

"Eiji! Don't make it sounds like Fuji is dead," Oishi scolded lightly, alarmed by the implication of such thing.

"Mou, but his spirit is now here with us," Eiji insisted as he pointed at Fuji's picture. His doubles partner could only slap his own forehead exasperatedly.

As the others laughed, Tezuka pressed his mobile to make a call. "We know you're here. I know you're watching this. This," he took a pause. "Is for you." Without waiting for Fuji's reply, he hung up the call. Fuji looked stunned and when he looked at Tezuka, their eyes met for a moment. Again, he broke off the connection and headed towards the court. Tezuka Kunimitsu had a match to win, and a point to be proven.

**Epilogue**

"Is that the famous Fuji Syusuke, papa? But why does a girl have a boy's name?" An adorable child with sparkling eyes asked his father, who was sipping red wine.

"Yes. And being born into Atobe family, we don't ask such silly question," he chided his son in a no-nonsense tone. Nevertheless, he decided to answer his heir's question, "It was ten years ago that he participated in a school performance. He took up a female role..."

His explanation was cut off by the TV news. _"Tezuka Kunimitsu, the world's well-known tennis player, has admitted that he strives for the best in every match due to a promise he made with someone. Now who is that someone? He has never revealed the name but there are rumours that he is going out with a brown-haired female model."_

"And until now he can easily pass off as a girl," Atobe Keigo commented with a smirk.

**On the other hand...**

"That show is all lies. I'm no model," Fuji Syusuke tried to sound offended but he was still smiling with amusement. He did not complain about being mistaken as a female though. Ten years ago, when Tezuka made that promise, Fuji couldn't believe his ears. Of course, things didn't go exactly as he'd originally planned and it took him a few more years to finally have his wish granted. But, he wasn't one to complain. Not when his hard work paid off.

"The way you dress gives that impression," Tezuka Kunimitsu answered. "I don't see why they bother with this kind of news," and he went to turn off the TV.

"But it's fun to mess up with other people's perceptions," was the mischievous genius's reply as he winked at the professional tennis player.

All in all, all went well. And it was the best, really.

* * *

_To those who want a clear picture of the ending:_

In reply to Fuji's confession, Tezuka promised Fuji that he would focus his whole attention towards him by winning every match for the genius. After several years, when Tezuka became famous, Fuji was mistaken for being a female model when they were spotted to be together. It was because Fuji purposely caused the misconception.


End file.
